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| ALONG THE ORINOCO 


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THE MOVING PICTURE 
COMRADES ALONG 
THE ORINOCO 
FACING PERILS IN THE TROPICS 


BY 
ELMER TRACEY BARNES 


ay 


Cc 


THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY 


Chicago pre Ual CHG New York 
| ADE IN U. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 
Down THERE IN PANAMA...... gD 
ree BMP TING GATT oc eae vs vce bc 21 
In A VENEZUELA FOREST. ............-. 30 
Tue Btow-Gun Birp HunTER........ 38 
Wuen Tum Jacuar LEAPED.......... AT 
WHE GCANNIBAG IISH 6.) 6l4 66s 5 ee ae a 3D 
Tur TROUBLES OF BALLYHOO.......+.. 63 

~ Taxing Big CHANCES. .......000- SVeepkae 
DOSING His BEARINGS) 604100 cs eae Bk 
Tse LONE CAMP-FIRE........-.. Tee 90 
SHOOTING AN ANACONDA.........0000¢ 98 

=e MONKEY BRIDGE vii oe eee fon a 107 
Tur Fright DowN THE ORINOCO...... 118 
Trin UC AMBURH. 020 oie dace cdeces 12T 
Tuer SERPENTS IN THE SKY............ 134 
FLYING BEFORE THE STORM........... 141 
Wuart to Do IN AN EMERGENCY...... 149 
Pee ALIIGATOR URAPs Soo. es ce. owas 158 
‘“‘NotHING BUT TROUBLE FOR Batuy- 

PEE eee ney od OV ELE OM ouc Onin 168 
Svocess Aun ArouND—CovucLusion... 176 


THE MOTION PICTURE 
COMRADES ALONG 
THE ORINOCO 


CHAPTER I 
DOWN THERE IN PANAMA 


‘‘Tuis makes the fourth day, recollect, boys, 
since we said good-bye, and bon voyage to Cap- 
_tain Barnaby Shooks and his diving-boat, Argo- 
naut!?? 

“‘Yes, and they’ve passed all the way through 
the canal long before now. Barring accidents, 
they must be a whole day’s journey from Colon, 
and booming northeast through the Gulf of Mex- 
ico, bound for good old Baltimore.’’ 

**Shucks! that’s what I call hard Inck, fellows! 
We thought to take it easier waiting here at Pan- 
ama for that Hawaiian steamer due tomorrow, 
when we might have been well on our way home 
right now.’’ 

**But we all agreed, you remember, Ballyhoo, 
that life aboard a submarine crait got mighty 
monotonous. Besides, you kept bumping that 


14 ‘THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


poor head of yours so often against the low eeil- 
ing in the cubbyhole of a saloon where we dined — 


that Jack and myself began to be afraid for a 
brains.’’ 


‘Small loss if they had run out, Oscar. Aug = 
how, such a thing would have proved that I did — 
possess a few; and some folks I’ve known in old 


Melancton, where we all live, used to say they be- 


lieved my skull contained only a horrible 


vacuum.’’ 


_ **Besides,’’ continued the serious looking young | : 
fellow answering to the name of Jack, “‘we took — 
so many splendid motion pictures of submarine’ — 


life, away down at the bottom of the sea, that 


_ my supply of films had about run out; thoughfor =— 
that matter we found the second lot waiting for 1163 = 


here when we arrived.’’ 


These three enterprising young chaps were | eS : 


walking leisurely along a street in Panama while 


chattering at such a lively rate. As some of My 
readers may not fully understand the subject of 
their conversation, 1t seems advisable to intro- 
duce Oscar and his comrades before going gud va 


further. 


Oscar Farrar, Jack Anderson and “Ballyhoo”? = 


Jones, otherwise Jonathan Edwards Jones, were _ 


chums who had latterly seen a number of remark- 


able episodes, as have been set forth at length in 
the three preceding volumes of this Series, to — 
which the reader who desires to know the full par-_ 


ticulars is referred. 


They all lived in the town of Melancton, site. oe 


Se ae 
ix’ Js 
TK, 4G 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 15 


ated in the Eastern part of the United States. Os- 
car’s guardian was named Doctor Felix Clements. 
The boy had been left quite a fortune, and as he 
showed a disposition to use due care in spending 
his money, he was allowed great latitude by the ge- 
nial old physician, whose one hope was that Oscar 
would eventually follow his own beloved profes- 
sion. 

‘*Ballyhoo’’ Jones had come by his queer nick- 
name through being gifted with a high order of 
mimicry. His ability to imitate a whole menage- 
rie, as well as the barkers who shout at the en- 
trances to the side shows, soon caused his numer- 
ous boy friends to look upon him as associated 
im some way with a circus; so they commenced 
calling him ‘‘Barker,’’ and finally this changed 
into ‘‘Ballyhoo,”’ which in stroller language 
means the same thing. 

Jack Anderson was possessed of a single yearn- 


- ing, which was to produce such remarkable mo-. 


_ tion pictures of strange things seldom dreamed of 
by ordinary people, that they would create a sen- 
sation. His father had been an artist along simi- 
lar lines, and was lost for several years in the 
heart of Africa; but rescued in a most peculiar 
and thrilling manner by Oscar and his two chum S, 
as related in an earlier book.* 

; Their latest project had been along remarkable 
~ lines, since it took them aboard a submarine built 


_ ‘The Motion Picture Comrades through African 
ae Jungles. 


> Govieomcnes since asseng ere 
- rule carried on the Hawaiiai ‘steamers 
_ So here they were, spending the tim 
were around hot Panama, and taking in 


_ Jack had secured s 80 nan: 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 17 


gan to yearn for the more bracing atmosphere of 
‘their Northern home. 

hen something happened that lke magie 
changed all their plans, and brought the Motion 
Picture Comrades face to face with an alluring 
proposition that tempted them amazingly. 

As they sauntered up to the hotel that day they 
saw a strange face at the door. Ballyhoo had 
casually mentioned the fact that he understood a 
certain Professor Yardley had arrived on the 
steamer that morning, and expected to spend a 
number of months deep in the forests of Vene- 
gzuela searching for rare plants, especially along 
the orchid line. 

They immediately guessed that this gentleman 
must be the professor, for he wore glasses, and 
looked the part. To their surprise he smiled, and 
held out his hand. 

‘“Which one of you boys happens to be Jack 


__Anderson?’’ he asked. ‘‘I know an uncle of yours 


in Washington very well, and heard considerable 
about the great stunts you and your two chums 
were pulling off in the line of remarkable motion 
pictures. When I learned that you were right 
here in Panama I told myself I would make your 
acquaintance, if I had to stay over another boat.’’ 

Of course that caused Jack and the other two. 
more or less satisfaction, for it is always nice to 
be appreciated; and especially when the one who 
says kind words has made a reputation in the 
world of science second to none. : 


So they all sat down in the reading room of 
2—A.O 


18 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES — 


the hotel, and, being coaxed to tell some of the 
things they had seen and endured since commenc- 
ing this business of picture taking, in due time 
the professor was put in possession of innumera- 
ble incidents. Ballyhoo in particular excelled all 
records in reeling off some of the queer things 
that had befallen them. m 
They liked Professor Yardley from the very 
start. He possessed a personality that drew peo- 
ple to him. Ballyhoo told himself before they had 
known the other ten minutes that he would like to 
spend a month in camp with a man whose wide 
knowledge of all animated nature afforded him 
such a foundation for relating interesting and 
thrilling incidents connected with his own life 
work. a 
In the midee of their chat the professor pean 
denly beckoned to a young man who had entered 
the place. S 
‘‘T want you to know,”’ he told Oscar and the 
others, ‘‘my companion and fellow worker on this” 
expedition, Philip Jenks, a relative of one of the — 
greatest authorities on natural history and or-— 
nithology this country has ever produced. Philip, 
these fine young fellows are Oscar Farrar, Jack 
Anderson and—excuse me for taking liberties, but 
it comes so natural to say it—Ballyhoo Jones, the 
boys of whom I was telling you on the steamer.”” 
Young Jenks was undoubtedly greatly pleased — 
to know them, if his hearty handshake meant any- 
thing. On their part, the three chums realized 
that he was no common young fellow, but an ear-_ 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 19 
‘host student; and, if he had any of the famous 


_ Jenks’ blood in his veins, possessed of an over- 


_ powering ambition to equal his uncle’s SMa I 
as an authority on birds. 

‘“You see, we make a very evenly balanced 
team,’’ Professor Yardley went on to say. ‘‘*I’m 
meaning to devote my whole time to plants, while 
Philip expects to search for several new and un- 
known species of feathered life, which it is sus- 
pected will be found deep in the forests of Vene- 


_guela. Professor Frank Chapman has spent much 


time studying bird life in this region, and the 
glowing reports he brought home with him have 
“been the main reason for our being dispatched on 
another expedition. ”’ 

This was all mighty interesting to the chums. 
They themselves had been through a certain © 
amount of experience along the line of venturing 
into almost unknown regions, and consequently 
could appreciate what lay before these two am- 
bitious scientific gentlemen. 

_ **Tt’s plain that you expect to-have a wonderful 
trip of it, Professor,’’ Oscar told the elder gen- 
tleman after they had listened to dozens of things 
the adventurous pair had laid out to do; in imagi- 
nation seeing them passing day after day up the 
_ rivers, with their weird tropical foliage, and past 


cas forests populated by strange animal denizens, un- 
til the picture thus painted looked very alluring. © 


**Yes,’’ added Jack, heaving a sigh; ‘‘some of 


these fine days I’m hoping I may have a chance to 


: - go on just such a cruise as that, and take pictures 


20 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES — 


of the wonders of the tropical woods, just as we 
did in Africa. We thought when we got home 
from the Dark Continent we’d seen enough of that 
sort of Pune but I often look See on those days — 
with envy.’ 

Professor Yardley gave Philip Jenks a quick 
look and a smile. Then turning upon the three 
boys he went on to say deliberately: | 

‘'Well, you’ll never have a better opportunity to 
gratify that longing than now; for we’d be de- 
lighted te have the three of you join our party!”?? _ 


CHAPTER II 
THE TEMPTING BAIT 


BatiyvHoo Jones caught his breath, while his 
eyes glistened with a suddenly aroused hope. 
Jack, too, stared as though he had received a 
shock; while Osear’s face betrayed the fact that 
the dea so suddenly held dangling like a prize be- 
fore them also gave him a certain amount of genu- 
ine pleasure. 

‘Oscar, let’s say yes!’’ exclaimed Ballyhoo, with 
his customary impulsiveness. 

**Perhaps we could manage it,’’ Jack added; 
*fand, anyway, thank goodness that extra lot of 
‘special films got here safe and sound. Only for 
that I would be left in the lurch.’’ 

“You see, Oscar,’’ ventured the professor, who 
had discovered long since that the Farrar boy 
was in reality the leader of the trio, whose opin- 
ion carried great weight, ‘‘both your chums seem 
to take kindly to my proposition. Please weigh 
it well, and if you can see your way clear to ac- 
eepting, Philip and myself will be simply de- 
lighted to have such jolly companions with us.’’ 

Oscar appeared willing at least to talk it over, 
and that opened the flood-gates of oratory. Both 

21 


22 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


the scientific gentlemen began again to tell of title 
fascinating things they anticipated running 
across, and what magnificent pictures Jack could 
secure that would pay him for the time and ex- 
pense a hundredfold. 

‘‘Of course,’’ the young photographer went on 
to say, as though figuring it out how he expected 
to surmount what few obstacles might rise up to 
confront them, ‘‘I could send my submarine films 
through to the Company in charge of the captain 
of the steamer. That letter would make him our > 
friend, right enough, and he’d see that they got 

safely in the hands of the president. So that 
much needn’t stop us.’’ 

Osear laughed. | 
eee begins to look as’ though a majority i is” 
against me in the very start!’’ he exclaimed.. 
“But let’s go slow about this until we figure 
things out. We would have to cable to our folks 
what we were meaning to do, and also write the 
particulars so they’d know where we were. That 

much for a beginning. ”’ 

By now both Jack and Ballyhoo were growing 
enthusiastic; and it may be easily understood that 
the profedier and Philip Jenks egged them on 
whenever they saw an opportunity to put in a 
good word, or give a sly shove. 

‘‘We expected to be gone several months when 
we started out this time,’’ Ballyhoo was saying, 
‘Sand because our work with the old submersible 
wound up so much sooner than any of us thought 
possible is no reason why we have to put for home 

aoe aan. 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 23 


ina big hurry. We’re entitled to a long vacation; 
and somehow I’ve always wanted to hunt a jaguar, 
and see what a tapir looked like. Oscar, is there 
any real good reason why we shouldn’t say 
yes?”’ 
Tf you put it at me that way, Ballyhoo, I’ve 
got to admit there isn’t,’’ the other told him. 
At that Ballyhoo jumped to his feet and acted 
as though ready to dance a hornpipe, only he sud- 
denly remembered where he was, and that his ac- 


tions might draw a crowd. 


Carried along with the tide, Oscar decided that 
there was no use trying to resist the temptation 
‘by which they were beset. So he turned to Pro- 
fessor Yardley and held out his hand. : 

**If suitable arrangements can be made, so that 
_ we will not be crowding you too much, Professor, 
I don’t see why we shouldn’t go along with you, 
and see with our own eyes. some of the interesting 
sights you’ve been telling us about, since this 
‘makes your fifth visit to South American wilds.’’ 
_ After dinner had been dispatched they talked 

matters over again, and many things were ar- 


; ranged. The professor agreed to post the boys 


as to what they should lay in, with regard to sup- 
plies of clothing, and such comforts as are always 
carried by up-to-date parties venturing into a 


__ wilderness where stores are an unknown quan- 


tity. 


_ Fortunately the boys were bountifully sup- 
_ plied with funds, because they had found few 
Bee paper turiiticn for spending a great deal since leav-. 


24 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


ing home. Indeed, the man of science gladly 
agreed to purchase the things they would need, 
and have them sent to the hotel to be packed that 
evening; for the small steamer upon which he and 
Philip Jenks meant to start for the Venezuela 
coast town was to leave Colon on the following 
day. 

‘*We might as well start into this “baat with 
a rush,’’ laughed Oscar, ‘*When once you’ve de- 
cided to do a certain thing, what’s the use of mak- 
ing two bites to a cherry? I’m only fang Hine to 
see how easy it is to find excuses when ven ’ve set 
your heart on a thing.’’ 

‘Everything goes!”” sang out Ballyhoo. ‘I’m 
meaning to lay in more ammunition for our re- 
peating rifle the first thing. You see, we didn’t 
really expect to make much use of firearms aboard 
a diving-boat, and so we fetched only a belt of car- 
tridges. But now the case is different, and I must 
look out we’ve got evenes to get us all the the 
we want for grub. 

‘‘T carry a rifle with me,’’ said prokesene Yard- 
ley, ‘‘and Philip of course depends on his small- 
‘bore double-barrel shotgun to get his bird speci- 
mens. But you are wise to lay in a stock of am- 
munition. It is sometimes greatly needed on these 
explorations into South American wilds, where 
even experienced travelers are likely to get tempo- 
rarily lost.”? 

Even talk like this did not have any dampening 
effect on the enthusiasm of the Motion Picture 
Comrades. Ballyhoo had a settled habit of never 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 25 


worrying about the future so long as the present 
looked pleasant; and as for Jack, he was already 
beginning to see glorious visions of new worlds 
to conquer in the line of bewildering films that 
would be stamped with approval by a critical pub- 
lic. : 

They soon started forth to carry their plans 
through. Jack had his precious films seeurely 
wrapped so that they could stand much rough 
usage without being injured. He expected to hand 
them personally to the commander of the big 
American-Hawaiian steamer, which was really 
due at some time during the coming night, but 
would not start through the canal until noon of 
~the following day. 

_ The cablegram was sent off, and letters would 
follow, fully explaining the reason for their 
abrupt change of programme. Doctor Clement 
would see that Jack’s folks and the Jones family 
were duly notified that lengthy letters were on the 
way, also how they were sending the under-the-sea 

sets of motion pictures. ‘ 
- All went like clock-work, as Ballyhoo remarked 
more than once. He was fairly bubbling with de- 
light over the prospect of seeing some big game 
again. When, however, Jack chanced to tell him 
that there was also a member of the boa constric- 
tor snake family known by the name of anaconda 
in South America, some of which were said te 
measure forty feet in length, the Jones boy gave 
a little gasp, and looked a trifle pale; for he had 
been a witness to the constricting power of such 


af 


gee tc Ser none oe ee 


9 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES ee 


hideous reptiles, and carried the horrible picture 
in his mind to that day.* 

‘“We had made arrangements for two long Ca- 
noes to take us up the river, with our luggage and 
camp followers,’’ the professor told them that 
evening at supper; ‘‘but it will be little trouble to 
engage another boat, with a crew of Indian row- 
ers. You see, we have quite an amount of stuff 
to carry along connected with our business. I ex- 
pect to secure a vast quantity of orchids and other 
rare plants to bring back; and Philip here will 
undoubtedly have stacks of birdskins, to be later 
on mounted for the National Museum at Wash- 
ington, by whom we are both sent out.’’ 

‘‘So far as that goes,’’ said generous Oscar, 
‘‘what’s to hinder us from engaging two extra ca- — 
noes for our share of the trip. The money part 
of it doesn’t cut any figure with us; and we want — 
to be comfortable. We had almost fifty in our 
party at one time out in Africa, because every — 
pound had to be carried on the heads of our por- 
ters.’’ = 

‘‘T heard about those pictures just before leav-— 
ing Washington,’’ continued Professor Yardley, — 
‘‘and fully meant seeing them, but a hurry call 
from the Department sent me off before the time 
appointed. I shall give myself the pleasure of — 
looking them up as soon as I get back home. And 
certainly I shall enjoy them ten times more after 


‘The Motion Picture Comrades through African 
Jungles *’ | 


_ ALONG THE ORINOCO 27 


having the participants at my campfire for so 
many weeks.”’’ 
He had seen to every little detail necessary, and 


_ the things purchased having been delivered at the 


hotel, they meant to pack before retiring that 
night. Osear was struck with the exactness shown 
in all these little things. He afterwards discov- 
ered how a man of science, accustomed to risking 
his life in all sorts of queer corners of the globe, 
must of necessity learn to be thorough in every- 
thing he undertakes, no matter how trivial it may 
appear; for his very existence may depend on the 
reliability of a rope, or the material of which a 
paddle is composed. 

Very likely the boys did not sleep quite as sound 
as usual that night. It was not on account of the 


warmth of their big room, either, nor yet the fact 


that a few voracious mosquitoes had managed to 
gain access to the apartment through a hole in 


the window screen. The future that beckoned 
_ with rosy fingers possessed an attraction in its 


- very novelty that caused endless thoughts to pass 


in review through their brains, and this condition 
was not conducive to sleep. 
So morning found them. Jack quickly discov- 


ered that the big steamer had arrived, and 
_straightway, after an early breakfast, he and his 


chums posted off to get aboard and meet the cap- 
tain. This courteous gentleman, upon learning 
from Jack’s letter just who and what they were, 
accorded them an interview, and asked nearly a 
thousand questions concerning their previous ad- 


ol 
ae 
x 


“know how such young. = aoe =o Osear SS 


care of the package. or ae Jack | 
S iahda: and assured the anxious phe tograpl 
- they would be plates in the pn ts. 


“ness. oa | eee 
It was. atiueh that the sal trading ts amer | 
“which they had taken sag 
qtenye: Colon on the | ee le 


ihe main part of the ig im 1 Coto se 


3 ey 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 29. 


on the previous season when returning home after 
_ six months in Peru among the lofty Andes. 


Ali went well, and they reached Colon in safety. 


On the following morning they saw their posses- 


sions put aboard the steamer, and along toward 


_ ten o’cloek the coasting vessel was well on her 


“way, bearing the expedition toward their intended 


destinatien. 


CHAPTER III 
_IN A VENEZUELA FOREST 


Two weeks later those whom we saw meet so 
strangely in Panama might have been discovered 
far up a river in Northern Venezuela, with quite 
a flotilla of queer-looking native boats, each 
manned by a number of lusty Indian rowers. 
Seated in the shade under the awnings that kept 
off the sun’s heated rays were the three boys and 
their new friends, Professor Yardley and Philip 
Jenks. : 
They had met with the customary number of de- 
lays, but thanks to the patience and untiring abil- 
ity of the veteran organizer of exploring expe- 
ditions all troubles of this nature had at length 
been brushed aside; and finally the start was 
made. They were now almost a week on the way, 
and rapidly getting into a most interesting secu 
of the country. : 

When they learned they were heading ae the : 
country of the famous Orinoco River, that drains 
such an enormous territory, and that they did not 
expect to have to make a ‘‘carry’’ with their boats 
and cargoes, the boys were at a loss to nua 
stand it. | ges 

30 ee. 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 31 


‘Why, how can that be,’’ Ballyhoo Jones had 
asked. ‘‘As near as I can remember from study- 
ing geography the great Orinoco empties into the 
Atlantic Ocean some three hundred miles or more 

to the east of here. I also know that it’s got lots 
_ of mouths, like the Nile, only more so, and they’re 
scattered over a whopping big country; but this 
‘river we’re ascending from the sea right now can 
hardly be one of those.’’ 
| **In one way you’re right,’’ the professor had 

told him, ‘‘because at certain seasons of the year | 
this river flows normally northward into the sea; 
but during, and for a time after, the rainy season 
the whole country is partly overflowed, and at 
_ such a time one can paddle all the way from the 
Gulf to the Orinoco. In fact, this river flows both 
ways, paradoxical though that may seem.’’ 

Oscar remembered reading about such a thing, 
though never anticipating that he would see it for 
himself. They had already witnessed plenty of in- 
teresting sights, and Jack had even started to 
work with his camera, getting the flotilla, some of 
the camps, and certain stretches of the river that 
appealed to him as well worth the effort, show- 
ing what a rank growth of vegetation those humid 
South American wilds afforded. 

Each of the boys sported a real machete, which 
they meant to carry with them at all times. In- 
deed, except for the assistance of this long heavy 
knife used by Cubans, Malays and most people of 
the tropics, it would be utterly impossible for any 
- one to make his way through the tangled growth 


32 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


of hanging vines and dense vegetation to be met 
with on every hand, so that a passage had often to 
be actually hewed out with lusty strokes right and — 
left. : 

Ballyhoo seemed to never tire of watching the 
dusky fellows use the oars. He was reminded, 
when night time found them making camp on the 
shore, of other similar scenes in connection with 
_ their African venture, when those happy-go-lucky 
blacks used to sit around and chant their weird 
songs that had such a wild monotone. Only these 
Indians did not sing, or appear merry at any time. 
They were a serious lot, and only induced to un- 
dertake the job that was offered because they 
needed the money, and the food was far better 
than they could ever hope to enjoy if they ae 
in their village hovels. 

As for Ballyhoo himself, he was the life of the 
camp. His spirits seemed to be at the boiling 
point every night, no matter how exhausting the 
day’s trip had been on account of the extreme heat 
and moisture. He would sing songs, dance in half 
a dozen ways, and perform antics that shamed the 
very monkeys they saw occasionally in the trees. 

It was the delight of the boy’s heart to mimic 
astonished simians, and get them to chattering 
with rage. Once he even infuriated an old gray- 
haired monkey up in a cocoanut tree close to the 
river brink so that the other bombarded him with 
green nuts, which Ballyhoo neatly dodged, and 
then gravely thanked the hairy thrower for send- 
ing at his head, as that was just what he wanted. 


Hive 7 é 


a ‘fa r : 


Tk ane i come, also tha punbers iid the pri- 
é ns ; but we who are accustomed to such things 
a con sane of the reward ene us if we are 


1] cae ae had spent more or hate ae on so 
ae new chile of ain nor did he hesi- 


her Profesor ‘Chapman had recommended 


xy gf 
ys bs 


night? 8 rest, ae pri { t y 
On one occasion when they had h 
to make a longer run than usual a 
ashore in the gloom of evening, tl ey h 
- made camp than they found then 
sae ten million terrible ants fois " 


} any twilight or aye | 
i out of feent it seu as 


Giapss t Bat rah ee same there were play of ‘ 
strange noises, and the boys had to ask many 
0 uestions before they could identify the species of 
bird or animal from which these proceeded. ed 
The huge ugly vampire bats gave Ballyhoo the ; 


most - uneasiness. Once he had awakened in the — 
dead of night, and by the light of the flickering _ 


nay 


camp fire discovered some weird shape fluttering ; - 
le the hammock — in which at the time he | 


hg oe ft 


chanced to be lying. Then his horrified eyes ‘is- 


covered that the creature was an enormous bat 
with ¢ a wide § sweep of wings, and that it was calmly 
en; aged i in sucking blood from one of his own bare 
- feet that had chanced to be exposed. 


3a Iyh60 had eben a whoop and a jump that ) 


se 


ast 


frighte 
that he never pent: to Te without guarding 
against Naina of ae espe rence, And ‘many 


Stn A 


a alge aa 


all: ie Cae declared’ heey made fas think of ee 
> as he had seen the Evil One depictedincol- 
( 8; and on that account alone he believed he was 
oing a good work i im decimating the numbers of 


ay me which iM called “blo ge od He (ae 


36 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES — 


Jenks had discovered the presence of a bird in 
the vicinity that he was eager to possess; and as 
the main object of the whole enterprise was to 
accomplish just such ambitions, of course comfort 
or progress must not be aoe to enter into their 
considerations. 

So it came about that with the sun still a couple 
of hours high, the boats were, at a signal from the 
headman in charge, who took his orders direct 
from Professor Yardley, turned in toward the 
shore, where a likely spot seemed to invite their 
-serutiny. After it was settled that this would 
make an admirable camp, preparations looking to 
that end were next in order. 

Soon quite a bustling scene was being captured 
by Jack, busy turning the crank of his camera. 


The sunlight, falling on the picture, gave it a won- 


derfully pleasing aspect, and he did not believe he 


could ever improve on that opportunity to show 


how explorers in South American wilds clear the 


ground with \their machetes, get their tents — 
erected, spear fish in the river for supper, make ~ 


fires, and in numerous ways prove themselves _ 


equal to the occasion. 


Meanwhile Ballyhoo Jones had aecepted the ~ 


urgent invitation of Jenks to accompany him in a 


little turn around. The woods seemed somewhat — 
more open than usual, so that they might expect — 


to eover considerable territory before coming 
back. By always keeping the river on their left 


they would know which way to turn when niet to ‘ 


start for the ane again. 


a iis whimpering of monkey babies, the ¢ 


] scolding of hairy mothers, or argumentative _ 
rs; odd grunts which may have proceeded | 
| some wandering tapir, though Ballyhoo was 
to see his first animal of this hog species, at 
t, in its native woods 5 the cries of various oe 


CHAPTER IV 


THE BLOW-GUN BIRD HUNTER 


Wuat Ballyhoo Jones saw thrilled him to the 


core. It was no monstrous snake waiting to cast 
its coils about an unsuspecting victim; nor yet a 
slinking jaguar endeavoring to pounce upon its 
intended dinner. Instead, the boy discovered a 
human figure creeping silently through the growth 
of tropical plants and vegetation, ever and anon 


stooping over, and constantly displaying a won- 


derful knowledge of wooderaft while passing: : 


along. 
It was a wild Indian, almost naked, and with 


long black hair that gave him a peculiarly fiendish s 
appearance. Apparently the native did not sus- 


pect the presence of whites nearby, being wholly 
engrossed with creeping closer wpon some object 


that he meant to bring down after ee own pe-— 


culiar fashion. 


‘*See what he’s got in his hands,’’ whispered i 


Jenks in the other’s ear. 


Ballyhoo had already noticed the long reed-like : 


affair, bound securely with some species of na- 


‘ 


tive cloth, as though to render it still more im- | 


38 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 39 


pervious to the admittance of air, save at either 
end. It must have been all of five or six feet 
long, Ballyhoo reckoned. 

‘SA blow-gun?’’ his lips framed, though never 
‘a sound was emitted, probably in fear of being in- 
cautious, and attracting the attention of the wild 
Indian. 

Jenks just nodded his head, which satisfied the 
boy, who again glued his eyes on the form of the 
creeper, bent upon seeing what use he meant to 
make of his singular weapon. Ballyhoo had read 
of these things, and that the Indians of the Ori- 
noco, as well as along certain tributaries of the 
mighty Amazon, are wonderfully expert in send- 
ing out their little darts to a distance that would. 
seem almost impossible, and with incredible ac- 
curacy. | 

He found himself all in a shiver, not of fear, 
but rather expectancy. At the same time it did 
strike Ballyhoo that some accounts stated how 
these nomads of the dense South American for- 
ests were in the habit of dipping the tiny points 
of their arrows in some poison, which they se- 
cured from adders, or other deadly snakes. | 

‘*Look beyond, and see what he’s after,’’ came 
again in a whisper in Ballyhoo’s ear. 

He had no trouble in seeing. Up there far above 
the ground in a lofty tree something gorgeous at- 
tracted his eye. It was a bird, and not of the com-. 
mon macaw or parokeet species, either, but with 


beautiful tail feathers that grew to an astonish- 


ing length. Ballyhoo guessed that if there were 


\ 


40 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


Birds of Paradise in tiees forests between the — 


coast and the Orinoco, he was looking at one just 
then. 

It also struck him that young Jenks must nave 
some such glorious bird in mind when he started 
out on this very tramp around the river camp. 
And now to think that they should come upon a 


magnificent specimen, with a native creeping up — 


bent upon securing the bird for disposal to some 
Indian half-breed trader later on. 

Still Ballyhoo was pleased with the thought 
that now he should see for himself whether those 
wonderful stories he had read concerning the ex- 
pertness of these Indian hunters had any founda- 
tion in fact. And, strange as it may seem, he 


found himself wishing Oscar and Jack were only — 
there at his side, so that they too might be wit- 
nesses to the spectacle—perhaps with Jack turn- ~ 


ing his crank, and filming the Indian in the act 
of using his blow-gun. 

Now the hunter seemed to believe he had gained 
a position where the bird was within range, for 
they saw him thrust the long tube slowly upward 
until 1t was pointing directly toward that gay- 
plumaged object far above. 

Ballyhoo plainly detected the Indian’s cheeks 
puff out, just as a bugler might do when about to 


sound “‘taps’’ or the ‘‘reveille.’’ Then came an — 
odd sound. Ballyhoo could ou liken it to a frog 


popping into the pool, or a cow’s hoof ie out 
of the mud. 


He knew the dart had gone forth on ie pee. | | 


} Bre showed a landsitien to turn his donde ae 
ae on ee the ‘young naturalist started ce 


] a ‘up both hands, palm outward, as he 
ed, Ballyhoo knew that this was the recog- — r 
d ‘‘peace sign’’ all over the wide world, and — a 
| ; in all piebaty there does not exist sh 


42 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


signs both of fear and rage. They saw him bound 
back, and Ballyhoo had a chilly sensation sweep 
over him as he began to believe the wild looking 
figure meant to insert another dart in his blow- 
gun, this time perhaps one of the poisoned va- 
riety, kept for human enemies. 

Reasoning thus, Ballyhoo brought his rifle half- 
way up to his shoulder. The mere thought of shed- 
ding human blood was repulsive to the boy, 
though if forced to accept such a dreadful al- 
ternative he knew he must be brave, and ready 
to do his full duty. | 

How glad and relieved Ballyhoo felt when he 
saw that the native had suddenly changed his 
mind. His fears had evidently got the better of 
his temerity, for turning on his heel he fled like 
the wind. It was astonishing how cleverly he 
managed to pass in and out of great tangled 
masses of vegetation that would have blocked ie 
passage of any white man. 


They watched until he had quite wane in the . 
near distance. Then Jenks once more eagerly 


pushed ahead. 
‘‘T must get that bird, above all things,’’ he 
told his companion. ‘‘It was the very species I 


started out hoping to run across; and to think — 


how strangely it comes into my possession. Well, 
T have made a supper from a fish which fell be- 


side me a full mile away from any water, and 


on looking up found that an eagle had chased an 
osprey fish-hawk and failed to clutch the descend- 


ing prize in time. So a scientist bird specimen ~ 


ALONG THE ORINOCO — 43 


hunter learns to accept all kinds of favors grate- 
fully.’’ 

‘*T’d like to have that arrow for my share in 
the hunt,’’ said Ballyhoo. ‘‘It’ll be a good thing 
to recall the adventure in days to come. And, say, 
didn’t he make a bull’s-eye shot, though? Why, 
it would have taxed the carrying qualities of your 
little scatter-gun to bring down that same bird, . 
but that dart went true to the mark.”’ 

They were compelled to hunt for a long pole 
before they could detach the dead bird from the 
top of the tall Spanish bayonet plant, Ballyhoo 
expressed his ardent admiration for the magnifi- 
cent plumage of the prize. 

**There are certainly some magnificent birds 
down here,’’ he observed as he stroked the richly 
colored feathers, ‘‘if only it wasn’t so terribly 
hot and sticky. Why, I’m in a bath half the time, 
what with the heat and atmosphere; and I have to 
keep vaselene in the barrel of my gun right along 
so as to prevent rust.’’ 

_ “*Well, I’m satisfied now,’’ remarked! Philip 


. Jenks; ‘‘that is, there’s no need of our keeping 


up the hunt. Perhaps it would be just as well for 
us to strike back to the river, and reach camp.’’ 

The way in which he shot a suggestive look in 
the quarter whence the wild Indian had last been 
seen excited Ballyhoo’s apprehension. 

**Do you mean he’s got companions over yon- 
der that he might fetch back with him, and make 
us prisoners?’’ he exclaimed, frowning. ‘‘That’d 
be anything but pleasant and comfortable. For 


44 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


- all we know thesé fellows with the blow-guns may ) 


be regular cannibals. I don’t know for certain 
whether they have such people down here in the 
Orinoco country, but we heard of them in Africa; 
yes, and I saw one man they said had disposed 
of lots of his enemies; for, you see, they believe 
that all the best qualities of their victims will pass 
on to them after the ceremony is earried through. 
But if you say hike, let’s be starting, Philip.’’ 

‘Wait a bit,’’ the other went on to say, as 
though a bright idea had come to him. ‘‘I’d like 
to try and let that Indian know that while I’ve 
eribbed his. bird, I don’t mean to rob him out- 
right.’’ 

‘‘But however can you do that,’’ asked Bally- 
hoo, wonderingly, ‘‘when the fellow has ht out 
from here?’’ 

‘*There’s a possible chance that he may come 


back again to search for our tracks and try to 


follow us,’’ answered the naturalist. ‘I know a 
way to catch his eye if that should happen.” — 
Ballyhoo, who was hardly to be reckoned an ex- 


pert woodsman himself, watched the actions of 
his companion with more or less interest. And, 
indeed, young Jenks went about carrying out his — 
little scheme with the confidence of one who knew 


what he was doing. 


First he looked around, and seeing some reeds 


growing close by whipped out his hunting knife 
and secured one of these. This he shortened to 
about five feet, and at the smaller end he also slit 
it down for several inches. 


A. 


ALONG THE ORINOCO ons 

After that he pressed the reed into the ground © 
until it was firmly attached, and slanting at an 
angle of about thirty degrees. Then, taking out a 
large silver coin issued by the Venezuela Govern- 


~ ment, he inserted this in the slit. 


‘*Well, now,’’ remarked Ballyhoo, his curiosity 
satisfied, ‘‘I call that a lovely way of showing our 
copper-colored friend that we’re no robbers. If 
he comes back here and sees that money he ought 
to call it square. It’s as much as he ever would 
have gotten for the bird from one of those native. 
piratical traders, I guess.’’ 

*“Anyhow,’’ laughed Philip, ‘‘my conscience is 
elear. JI never meant to rob the poor fellow, and 
whether he gets this coin or not, I’ve done my 
duty. Now let’s strike out on a bee-line for the 
camp.”’ | 

Having had several never-to-be-forgotten | ex- 
periences in getting lost in the forest, Ballyhoo 
had managed to keep a pretty accurate mental 
map of the surrounding country in his head. That 
is, he believed he knew which way the river lay, 
and once that was gained all that would be neces- 
sary in order to reach the camp would be to turn 
to the left, and press on. 

Jté chanced that young Jenks was better posted 
even than that, for he did not waste any time in 
striking for the river first. His judgment regard- 
ing localities proved so good that inside of ten 
minutes after leaving the waving wand with the 
silver bait gripped in the crotch they heard voices, 
and then distinctly caught the smoke of the fire. 


46 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


So in the end they walked into camp, with Jenks 
proudly holding up the beautiful specimen he had 
secured, showing by his looks that one of the 
ardent ambitions of his venture had been fulfilled. 


CHAPTER V 
WHEN THE JAGUAR LEAPED 


**T CONGRATULATE you, Philip,’’ called out Pro- 
fessor Yardley, as he advanced to take a look at 
the prize at close quarters, and almost immedi- 
ately added in apparent astonishment: ‘‘but 
what’s this I see sticking from the side of your 
bird. Since when have you taken to the blow- 
gun, my son?’’ 

Of course at this both Oscar and Jack pressed 
up. They saw from the expression on Ballyhoo’s 
face there was a story back of it.. This was soon 
told, and when Jack learned how the others had 
actually crouched there watching the Indian with 
his native weapon bring down the gloriously 
_ plumaged bird from a high tree, he shook his head, 
and was heard to say: 

‘‘Hard luck! What wouldn’t I have given to 
_ have been there,’’ and of course they knew full 
well he meant with his camera, so as to secure a 
fine motion picture of the slaying of the feath- 
ered prize. 

Professor Yardley looked a little grave. | 

‘*T hope it will blow over, and nothing evil come 

a. 


i 5 ad, RE VE aay We eee, 
. Pas W +) oe 
~ Putte. 


48 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


of it,’’ he went on to say; ‘‘but some of these Gr. 
noco Indian tribes are savage and unreasonable 
people. They hate the whites like poison, and ~ 
have little or nothing to do with them, selling 
what plumage they pick up to half-breed traders, 
and living as far away from the settlements on 
_ the Suata River as they can.’’ 
“Tt was unfortunate,’’ admitted young Jenks, 
‘‘but I did the best I could to prove that we 
wanted to deal honestly by him. If he does find 
that silver, he may understand.’’ 

‘“Well, there’s no use crying over spilled milk,’’ 
said the scientist, making the best of a bad bar- 
gain, as his class generally do. ‘*We must ex- 
ercise more care after this as we pass along the 
river; and when camping always keep a ee 
Ate ae the entire night.’”’ _ 

Nothing more was said just then, but the three 
boys felt as though some sort of shadow hung 
over their heads. Ballyhoo thought it made things 
seem a bit more exciting, though neither of the 
others appeared to exactly like the idea. In Os- 
ear’s mind things were lively enough without their 
incurring the enmity of savage native tribes, who 
might resort. to all sorts of desperate tactics in 
order, to encompass their destruction. 

Sure enough, the professor did lay out a pro- 
gramme of preparedness that night as they sat 
around and chatted. No fire was needed to keep 
them warm, and so the blaze was allowed to die 
down after it had afforded them due satisfaction — 
along with the getting of supper. | 


bs : fon an fla: stump of a monster for- 
re il that had been shattered by a, bolt of site 


5 ie or Aironeh accident. ; 
: on he « came up to where the other hae 


, oe Didlorioasly. iter him. 
aver saw such easy fishing in all my life,? > he 
‘niu ep enty. “All you have to 


50 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


hook, and take off the fish. Now we can have a 
great mess of the same for breakfast. I hope, — 
sir, they’re of an edible kind, and that all my hard 
work hasn’t been wasted.”’ 

The professor thereupon told him he had par- 
taken of that same species of fish many times in — 
the past, and assured Ballyhoo they would be 
found equal to bass, with less bones in the bargain. 

‘‘Now sit down here, Ballyhoo,’’ said Oscar, 
‘‘and hear what we’ve been arranging. It’s ab- 
solutely necessary that we keep watch and watch 
through the night, to guard against any of those 
natives slipping in on us. Each will have an hour — 


and a half on duty, and arouse his successor, — 


when he’s done his bit, and ean then sleep out the 
balance of the night.”’ 

‘<That’s a good idea,’’? commented Ballyhoo, al- 
ways ready to shoulder his share of any burden, 


like a true chum. ‘‘Count me in the game with — 


the rest. When do I come on deck, early or late?’’ 
He was quickly given the programme as ar- 
ranged. Indeed, his ‘‘spell’’ started in at the — 
time they concluded to retire under their blankets. 
Although Ballyhoo may not have suspected it, ~ 


this was done purposely. If there was any weak 


link in the chain it lay at his door, for he often 
grew careless; and as the night lengthened. the 
danger was likely to inerease in proportion. The 
Professor had told Jack and Osear that these In- 
dians, like nearly all primeval savages, were cun- | 


ning enough to always wait when meaning to at- — 


tack a sleeping enemy until the small hours of 


apa 
such 


tile Ny ‘Still, ‘that bhkealy paid them, for the rf ua 
of Cond was much harder, and in conse- | 


52. THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


falling trees, and once saw a boat-load of natives 
crushed under a mass of earth and timber. Since 
then I’ve always kept on the alert when passing 
along one of these rivers subject to overflows. 
An ounce of prevention is always better than a 
pound of cure is a good motto for all Orinoco ex- 
plorers. SEEN happen very suddenly Somcn ee 
down here.’ 

They had an instance of this very same thing 
before that day was done, and after it was over 
the three chums were ready to echo Professor 
Yardley’s words. 

Having come to the conclusion that they were. 
no safer out there in the middle of the river than 
close in by the shore, the four boats started to fol- 
_ low the heavily wooded bank. The trees often 
overhung the water, and dense vegetation filled — 
in the spaces between, so that it would have been 
“next to impossible for any man to have advanced 
a rod without constant use of his keen-edged ma- — 
chete to slash a path through the matted mixture ) 
of plant life. 

The leading boat ‘contatned the headman and 
the professor, as well as a number of native row- 
ers. Close by came a second craft with Ballyhoe 
init. Further back a third one held young Jenks, 
while in the rear Oscar and Jack occupied last 
boat. | 

Jack had lagged behind for a purpose. He had 
his camera ready for business, and was only wait- 
ing for a certain light to come, when he meant to 
get some pictures of the expedition creeping along _ 


i vf i 


' ALONG THE ORINOCO 50 


under the wooded bank, which latter made with 
the river ahead a rare combination, according to 
the artistic judgment of the photographer. 

In imagination Jack could almost hear the 
chorus of approval which was likely to invariably 
greet the coming of such a beautiful picture on the 
sereen. So as he crouched there in the bow, hav- 
ing instructed his rowers how to cease all work, 
and sit absolutely still on his giving a certain sig- 
nal, he only waited to catch the climax in the way 
of a view. | 

If the stage had been set purposely things 
could hardly have happened more opportunely. 
Jack himself often thought of this later on when 
he had a chance to review all that happened on 
the eventful trip, 

Ballyhoo was idly lounging there in his boat, 
tired of sitting still, and hoping the professor 
would soon call a Hatt) so they could go ashore 
and stretch their cramped limbs. As usual, Bal- 
Iyhoo kept his rifle within reach. He had ad- 
mitted that it was his ambition to shoot one of 
those saurian monsters they frequently saw 
plunge into the river from a sloping log, or a high 
bank, whether they be of the alligator tribe or its 
first cousin, the true crocodile. 

‘*Your series of pictures of this blooming re- 
gion will never be complete,’’ he had told Jack 
more than a few times, ‘‘until you’ve got some 

views of those scaly chaps. But they are so timid 
they drop overboard long before we get close 
enough up to make a good showing. So I’ll have 


54 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


to knock one over, and then we’ll fix up a fake 
picture with him about to take the leg off one of 
our men here.’’ 

Suddenly the drowsy feeling that was stealing 
over Ballyhoo was dispelled with a shock. He 
heard a loud shriek, and, sitting up, looked hur- 
riedly toward the other boat, only some thirty feet 
or SO away. | 

What Ballyhoo saw just then was thrilling 
enough to satisfy any longing for excitement that 
may have been circulating through his system. It 
made him instantly reach out for his gun, that 
being the instinctive act of a born hunter. 

Down from a leafy limb that was just above — 
the boat a yellow object came flashing. Ballyhoo » 
eould see that it was a large animal of the cat 
tribe, and he did not need to be told that at last 
he was looking at a jaguar, the fiercest wild beast 
that roams the region of the Orinoco. 

Just why the animal should thus venture to at- 
tack a boatload of human beings without any 
provocation whatever might never be fully known; 


but the chances were it had cubs near by, and the _ 
vigilant mother suspected that these men meant — 


them harm. 


CHAPTER VI 
THE CANNIBAL FISH 


Wuen the jaguar made this sudden attack, of © 
course the rowers forgot all about their oars, so 
that the boat lost headway immediately. One of 
the natives in his fright plunged headlong over 
the side, and came very near upsetting the boat 
in his haste to avoid those sharp claws and dan- 
gerous teeth. 

There was something of a scramble as the beast 
started in to attack the three remaining Indians, 
desperately striking out at them, and parrying 
their flashing machete blades. Professor Yard- 
ley, sitting far in the stern at the time, was not 
in any peril for the moment. He had snatched up 
his gun, and seemed desirous to getting a chance 
for a shot; but the writhing bodies of his dark- 
skinned men were always in the way. 

**Hold on, Professor!’’ Ballyhoo was ealling, 
excitedly; ‘‘let me have a swing at him, please! 
I can get him a heap better than you.”’ 

**Go ahead, then!’’ sang out the scientist. 

There was a sudden report that rang out above 
all the screaming and yelling and snarling. Bal- 
lyhoo had fired, taking a snap shot, because the 

55 


56 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES ~ 


beast was so exceedingly active, jumping back and 
forth as though made of India rubber, that he 
could not find an opportunity to aim. —_ 

But at that short distance it would have been 
hard for any one accustomed to handling a gun to 
have utterly missed. So the boy’s shot must have 
found its mark, for the mad jaguar was seen to 
make a tremendous effort to spring upwards 
again, with the evident intention of regaining a 
shelter amidst the dense foliage. 

Whether it made a miscalculation and fell short, 
or was already weakened by the effect of the stag- 
gering wound it had received they could not tell; 
only it failed to reach the limb, and falling Back: 
ward dropped struggling in the river. \ 

Ballyhoo quickly got his gun in readiness for 
another shot. He had reason to believe that the 
cat was like a snake, ‘‘scotched, but not killed,’’ 
and as it might try to climb into one of the boats, . 
his business was to follow up his first effort with 
a more deadly shot. 

The beast was swimming in circles, Jeing sorely’ 
hurt. Even then its head had a sinister look, with 
those cruel white teeth showing between the 
parted lips, and its eyes glaring the hatred it rele | 
toward those invaders of the solitudes. 

So Ballyhoo coolly took a good aim this time, 
determined to close the drama for keeps. He had — 
for some time been wishing such a ehance to kill 
one of these terrible monsters would come along, 
though not dreaming his opportunity would ar- 
rive under such peculiar conditions. 


ee more fond outcries broke forth. Bally. ul BS 
t Lek ee a second cat might ness 


Ee hopy Reon, as io niiethatine a a 
ering another Bee of xeHOy, orbs ape dige wae 


58 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


no sign of any protruding snout, nor was the 
water lashed into foam by the sweep of an angry 
tail, 

**Electric eels!’’ snapped the professor, who 
apparently had a much better idea concerning the 
possible truth than any of the three boys could 


entertain, since he was acquainted through his 
work with all animated nature, as well as plant 


life. 
The other boats were rapidly approaching by 
now, all of the occupants aroused by these alarm- 


ing incidents following one another so closely that 


they seemed to be related in some way. — 


Ballyhoo sat there gun in hand, waiting. If his - 
prediction turned out to be the true state of af- 


fairs, perhaps he might yet be given a chance to 
do some more fancy shooting. An alligator or a 
crocodile would be just as acceptable in his mind 
as a second tiger-cat. 

Meanwhile the boat containing the scientist, 
urged on by the rowers, who had recovered the 


use of their muscles, and were making oars an- 


swer the purpose of paddles, was rapidly bearing 
down on the spot. 

The man’s actions grew more frantic than ever. 
He would kick and splash and try to fling him- 


self around in the water, all the time aiming ~ 
toward the shore, but making poor headway. It 


seemed to Oscar as though he were being held 


\ 


back by something that might be attached to his e 


lower extremities. The boy was on his knees in — 


_the boat, craning his neck in the endeavor to see — 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 69 


just what was happening, for he felt mystified to 
explain why the Indian should act so strangely. 

Onee he believed he saw a passing gleam in the 
agitated water as though a stray sunbeam had 
glistened on the scaly side of a swiftly moving 
object, which fact only added to the mystery. 

But now the boat was alongside, and the In- 
dians commenced to beat the water with their 
oars. By this action they proved that the mys- 
tery was anything but such to them, and that they 
knew full well what was happening to their un- 
fortunate comrade. 

Reaching over, the professor caught hold of the 
man. The latter also made out to elutch the side 
of the big canoe, and between them all he was 
finally dragged in. 

Ballyhoo gave a shout. ‘‘Did you see that?’’ 
he bellowed, in utter amazement. ‘‘Why, some of 
the bally cannibals kept hanging fast to his legs 
until they were dragged out of the water. Why, 
it’s fish that tackled him, fish that eat flesh! Well, 
well, if that doesn’t beat anything I ever 
heard of!’’ 

Oscar understood it now. He remembered 
reading about those savage little monsters of the 
South American streams that will attack a man 
as quickly as a swarm of mosquitoes would, and 
tear him to pieces unless he could be quickly res- 
cued, or drag himself out of their reach. 

It was found that the wretched native had in- 
deed been bitten in a score of places, nor were 
these mere little nips, but small pieces of flesh had 


60 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


actually been torn from his limbs. He was bleed- — 


ing at a great rate, and the professor saw that 
they would have to go into camp right away, so 
that the man’s injuries could be properly attended 
to lest he become weakened through loss of blood, 
or septic poisoning set in, as 1s likely to be the 
ease in hot moist climates. 

Accordingly orders were given for ikea a 
stop at the first favorable chance. Meanwhile the 


scientist did what he could to stop the bleeding, — 


and give the poor fellow some relief from the pam. 
‘This is a job for you, Oscar!”’ calied out Bal- 


lyhoo. ‘‘What’s the use of being the ward of a. 
doctor if you don’t Bee an opportunity now and . 


then to ariet what you’ve seeped in bsp 2, as- 
sociation.’ 


Jack had already assured Protease Yardley | ‘ 
that Oscar was a very clever hand at anything 


connected with surgery, and of course the other 
was only too glad to hand the case over into Hie 
young fellow’s charge. 

They soon afterwards went ashore, having luck- 
ily come upon a promising place for a camp. 
While some of the men busied themselves in mak- 
ing a fire and getting the tents pitched for the 


coming night, Oscar, assisted by Jack, and ~ 
watched by the other three whites, proceeded to 


the business in hand. 
Those wounds made by the At teeth of the 
fierce fish looked ugly enough. Osear of course 


had never before treated a ‘‘fish-bite,’’ and at an- a 


other time Ballyhoo might have laughed such Qn 4) 


3b 
, and spud ao ue akestieal fons ” 
ne of the other men had several long scratches — 
ym oy i. claws of the ie and sO > Oscar ay 


fests | he felt, at least had a way of Pees 
for expressing his feelings. This was Tee 
n b i vanes the bee 8 hand, and kissing it sev- Hate 


pale 


t he’ S Sines you may later on ane 
yecome pest oi man. “And ‘ ae | 


62 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


to be a bigger man than myself in the minds of 
these Indians. They already look on you as a 
white wizard, and you know what that means. 


Like our North American Indians, they reverence © 


their ‘medicine-man’ down here, and he’s usually 
the same sort of a big fraud, trying to frighten 
the evil spirit of sickness away by making all sorts 
of queer noises, and with incantations.’’ 

And sometimes after that, when Ballyhoo felt 
like being humorous, he would address Osear as 
the ‘‘Big Medicine,’ the ‘‘Man who Talks with 
his Fingers, and drives the Bad Spirit away.’’ 
But it turned out that the work was well done, for 


the fish-bitten man never suffered eh more -— | 


than natural pain from his injuries. 


CHAPTER VII 
THE TROUBLES OF BALLYHOO 


Ir turned out that they were now getting in 
what the scientists of the expedition declared was 
the ‘*Promised Land’’ of enchantment, for both 
of them were beginning to find more and more 
specimens along the respective lines which they 
came after. 

Already Professor Yardley had collected quite 
a bunch of what he called rare plants, though to 
the boys they appeared to be nothing remarkable, 
except that in some instances they certainly ad- 
mired the rich, almost savage markings of the or- 
_ ehids which were found growing from crotches of 
trees, and making the air in the immediate vi- 
cinity almost sickening sweet with their strange 
exotic perfume. 

Philip Jenks too was gathering some varie- — 
ties of birds, the possession of which afforded him 
2, vast amount of solid satisfaction. Here the boys 
were better able to understand and appreciate 
his feelings than in the case of the plant hunter; 
for some of these feathered creatures certainly 
63 


64 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


did present a bewildering appearance. They 
could imagine how splendid a showing they would — 


eventually make when properly mounted, and with 


a background in perfect agreement with the coun- 
try that claimed them for a habitat. 

Ballyhoo, however, was far from See 
True, he had something to his credit and took ex- 


ceeding great care of that jaguar pelt, which he — 


kept stretched out on a home-made set of sticks, 
se it would keep its shape while drying; nor did 
he allow it to lie in the hot rays of the sun, since 
Professor Yardley had told him it must dry only 
exposed to the air, and not to let the last rays of 
the sun get on it, 

The reason Ballyhoo felt uneasy was the fact 


that it kept him busy about half his time seratch- | ie 


ing. When a fellow itches all over from innumer- 
able bites from those venomous ants to mos- 
quitoes, and all sorts of other insects as well, he 
naturally Reson more or less nervous ane 
ugly. 

It was true back had given him a soothing: oint- 
ment with which he kept his whole person liber- — 
ally annointed, until he declared he felt like an ~ 
‘‘Injun who was going on the warpath, and 
greased his hide so the enemy could not get a 
tight grip on him should they come to close quar- - 
ters.’’ 3 
 6T never in all my life saw so many varieties of 
blood-suckers as they have down here in this 
blasted country,’’ he would often say, as he wrig- — 
gled and squirmed and then dug at his calves furi- — 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 65 


ously, against the protests of Oscar, who knew this 
only aggravated matters. 

‘Well, they were pretty bad out there in Af- 
rica!’’ ventured Jack, but Ballyhoo instantly 
turned on him to say vindictively: 

*“Not a circumstance to what we’ve run across 
here, I tell you, Jack. Why, just stop and think 
of all the blood-thirsty wretches there are, from 
those whopping big vampire bats, down the line 
through fish, flesh and fowl, to the ants that will 
eat you alive if you give ’em half a chance. I’m 
going to keep a record of all the dreadful things 
that creep, crawl and fly around a camp here, 
just waiting to devour any poor fellow that hap- 
pens along.”’ 


Nevertheless, in spite of all his grumblings, _ 


which the others could pardon, for they knew Bal- 
lyhoo must suffer, he often threw this blanket 
aside, and was his old self, which meant the life 
of the party. _ 

“‘T’d give a heap,’’ he was heard to say one day 
as he looked longingly over the side of the boat at 
the water, ‘‘if I could only have a nice bath. But 
when I remember those cannibal fish, and hear a 
big ’gator splash nearby, or else think of what 
we’ve heard about those terrible electric eels that 
can give you an awful shock, why, I just make up 
my mind to forget all about being sanitary. No 
swim for me unless I find a nice little pond that 
hasn’t got rele leeches or other blood-suckers i in 

it? 

Jack was not sorry he had come, for he believed 

5—A.O. 


>. 


66 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


he was gradually accumulating a select stock of 
motion pictures that would well repay him for all 
his labor. As for Oscar, he never announced 
whether he regretted the step or not; but the 
chances were he felt satisfied. Seeing so novel 
a,country as the Orinoco region would be some- 
thing worth boasting about in future days, when — 
perhaps they had all fully grown, and were set- — 


tled down to their more staid life work, whatever ~ 


that might be. 

And now it came to pass that Ballpheo found | 
himself in another difficulty; for it did seem that ~ 
he could only keep out of trouble so long, 
and then had to tumble headlong into some 
sort of scrape that none of them had fore- ~ 
seen. | | : 
They were in camp at the time. A heavy wind 
had caused them to leave the river unusually early 
that day because of the difficulty in making head- 
way, the rowers being very nearly exhausted by - 
their efforts. ; 

At one time the professor had thought they — 
were about to have a heavy tropical storm come 
down upon them; and as they had passed through ~ 
several experiences along these lines they made — 
ample preparations to avoid being soaked _ 
through. It seemed, though, as if the wind had 
changed, for the clouds now looked much more 
broken. 

Ballyhoo had accompanied young Jenks again. 
It gave him something to do so as to work off a ae 
part of that nervous tension; and, besides, he was — 


ee “and 1 I’ve a good mind to take you | 
: Fin moet, Here’ s the river close ing and — 


ithe: aoe Ane ape ei 
1 fs me ores lost here,’ ” as so 


nT RINE Epis? 


68 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES - 


tle lesson, all right, and never again for me. 
Gimme what you want me to hand over to the pro- 
fessor, and I’ll be off.’’ 

Aecordingly he presently fed his back on 
Philip, who was already starting to creep toward 
that high tree with the dead top, where the envied — 
possessor of that big ivory bill kept up a rat- 
tat-too, as he knocked on wood to coax the hid- 
ing insects to peep out to see what was the mat- 
ter. a 
When Ballyhoo thus started for camp he never — 
dreamed that anything out of the ordinary would — 
happen to him. He meant to keep an eye on the > 
river, so that nothing could tempt him to wander 
away from its guiding care. If he came to a patch © 
of vegetation that barred further progress, he had 
his sharp-edged machete along, with which to hew — 
a path through the leafy barrier; though as a rule 
he preferred to go around, as it required less — 


waste of energy, and this meant have perviss on | 


such a terrible hot day. 
Once or twice the boy stopped to examine some- — 
thing that attracted his attention, for he had 
learned to keep his eyes about him at all times, — 
and observe such objects as seemed out of the ordi- t 
nary run. ae 
As yet he had failed to hear the report of 
Philip’s small-bore gun. Apparently, then, that — 
elusive bird with the ivory bill must have flown to — 
another tree, and tempted the ambitious vous | 
naturalist to chase after him. . 
‘*Well, now,’’ Ballyhoo was saying to himself, 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 69 


with something of a grin, ‘‘I hope he doesn’t go 
and get mixed in his bearings, and turn up lost. 
From all I’ve heard it wouldn’t be the nicest thing 
going to get wandering around in this awful wil- 
derness. I reckon it’d even be worse than stay- 
ing all night in a tree, with a pair of ferocious 
lions keeping guard below.’ * | 
_ Once he saw a peculiar track in the earth that 
interested him, as it was entirely strange to 
him. 

‘Now. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if that 
was made by a tapir,’’ Ballyhoo told himself. 
**1’7ll remember what it looks like so I can de- 
scribe it to the professor. He’ll be apt to know 
just what sort of a track one of those big hogs 
would make. And right here looks like a good 
place for snakes, so I’ll watch out.’’ 1 

Serutinizing every hanging vine before trust- 
ing himself too near, he slowly kept on his way 
along. Once or twice he had little shocks when 
he fancied he could see some suggestive squirm- 
ing motion to one of those thick lianas; but a sec- 
ond and more comprehensive examination always 
relieved his mind. 

He may have gone something like a quarter of | 
the way to the camp from the spot where he parted 
company with Jenks, when again Ballyhoo 
stopped short. 

*‘Now, what under the sun was that queer 


“The Motion Picture Comrades through African 
Jungles. ’’ 


10 | THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


noise?’? he muttered, glancing hastily around 
him. ‘‘I declare it sounded just like our old cat’s 
little bind kittens erying for dinner. And there 
it starts up again. I guess it must come from that 
bunch of brush ahead yonder, and I’ve got a good 
notion to take a look in.”’ | 

Had Ballyhoo been really wise, he would have 

immediately made a detour, and avoided that same 
bunch of brush as though it concealed a leper; 
but after all he was only an impulsive, and often 
thoughtless boy, acting upon the first inspiration © 
that surged into his mind. 
' At least he advanced slowly and cautiously, 
holding his gun in readiness for instant work 
should anything warrant it. The queer eries con- 
tinued to well up, and further sonia ior Bally- 
hoo’s curiosity. 

‘*“Must be kits, for a fact,’’ he said, ‘‘and mebbe 
belonging to one of those big tiger-cats m the bar- 
gain,”’ 

The thought sobered him, and he stood still for 
a minute, because there flashed into his mind a 
vivid picture of that jaguar he had seen drop into 
the boat, and madly attack the five occupants as 
though numbers never counted. 

‘«Shucks! who’s afraid?’’ he presently told him- 
self, as he took a firmer grip on his rifle. ‘‘No 
harm just to take a peep at the little runts. I 
never saw baby tigers outside of a show, and I’d 
like to say I did. So here goes for a look, any- 
way!?? 

With that resolve the boy ane started slowly : 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 71 


forward. louder and more insistent did those 
baby wailings arise, and Ballyhoo felt more dis- 
posed than ever to see what a jaguar’s cubs looked 
like. 


CHAPTER VII 
TAKING BIG CHANCES _ 


‘“Wriw, I'll be jiggered if that doesn’t look 
cute, now. ‘Two of ’em, for a fact, and just like 
our kittens at home, only clumsier!’’ 

Ballyhoo was saying this as he thrust his head 
through some bushes and looked down on a couple — 
of objects that were sprawling there on what 
seemed to be a litter of dry leaves and rubbish. 


He made sure first of all to glance closely around, 
so as to be certain that the mother cat was not — 


in sight. 

The cubs were very young; in fact, they did not — 
seem to have their eyes fully open to the daylight. — 
Ballyhoo was very fond of all animals, and par- 
ticularly those that dwelt in the open. He could 
not resist the great temptation to say he had 
stroked the back of a jaguar cub, right there in its - 
lair. 

‘‘Whoo! quit your spitting and snarling!’’ he 
muttered as his hand came in contact with the 


sleek back of the larger cub. ‘‘Did you ever see — 


anything to match that, I want to know. Why, 
the little chap never saw a human being in his life, 
72 


ALONG THE ORINOCO "3 


and doesn’t know only by instinct that there are 
enemies in this old world, yet just see him strike 
up at me with his funny little paw, would you, 
while he snarks and spits just like our Puss does 
when a strange dog comes in the yard.’’ 

He persisted in patting the whelp of the jaguar. 
There was a sort of dreadful fascination, about 
it to Ballyhoo, although another boy might not 
have considered such an entertainment worth the 
risk. 

But Ballyhoo had seemingly forgotten all about 

the ferocity of the jaguar they had met on the 
river. True, he did keep a wary eye about him, | 
and held his gun in one hand, ready for business; 
but all the same he did not hasten away from so 
dangerous a spot, as a really wise boy would have 
done. 
_ Then a terrible temptation smote him. Bally: 
hoo never could fully and satisfactorily explain 
how he came to yield to it: He often declared he 
felt like a fool every time he remembered it, and 
wanted some one to kick him. 

But the tempter put it into his head to want 
to fetch one of those same cubs to the camp with 
him, just to show it to the other fellows. They | 
could then take it outside to the bush and leave 
it there, for its parent would of course easily find 
it again through that wonderful instinct of scent 
possessed by all wild animals. 

He shot another look around him. The coast 
seemed absolutely clear, and there was not a sign 
of any danger. 


74 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES — 


Ballyhoo was one of those fellows who nearly 
always act on impulse, rather than obeying the 
cold dictates of reason. Allowing that thought to 
have dominion over him, he hurriedly snatched up 
one of the cubs, the larger at that, and tucked it — 
under his arm. 


The savage little atom struck wildly at ie oa - 


snarled something dreadful. Ballyhoo was half 
tempted to drop it. He began to wonder whether 
the mother could be approaching the spot, and so — 
hear the cries of her offspring, caleulated to tell 
her some enemy must be afoot. 

But Ballyhoo was also very stubborn. He hated 
to give up anything on which he had set his heart. 
So, turning, he backed out of the covert. | 

Once in the open, he started on a quick walk. 
As he went he kept turning his head this way and 
that, searching the bushes and tangled growth 
around him with his eager gaze. The fear in his 
heart was only kept down by pride; he told him- 
self that he would feel silly if he dropped the cub 


now, after making this start, and planning to show — 


it to Jack and Oscar. | 

So he kept on his way. The camp was any sO | 
distant but that he might expect to reach it before 
a great while. And that mother jaguar might be — 
far away, waiting in a crotch of a favorite tree to 
pounce on some animal below that would make a 
dinner for herself before she went back to feed 
her whelps. 

Several times he stopped to listen, thinking he 
had heard some sound nearby that to his heated 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 75 


imagination took on all the alarming symbols of 
an avenging cry. Each time he sniffed, and even 
clung the more tightly to the squirming little body 
he had tucked under his left arm. 

‘‘Stop your whimpering and complaining, can’t 
you?’’ he told his prisoner. ‘‘Nobody means to 
hurt you, silly little fool that you are. But then 
I suppose that’s only the wild animal instinct. 
Kiven a baby jaguar smells an enemy in a human 
being. Gee! I’m beginning to sweat like a work 
horse. I wonder is the camp much further now?”’ 

Then he perked up his ears again; for the third 
time he believed he had surely caught some sug- 
gestive sound that resembled the cry of a cat look- 
ing for its lost kitten. 

‘*By ginger! I believe the old girlis after me!”’ 
Ballyhoo told himself, with just the faintest 
tremor in his voice, while his fingers tightened 
about his gun. | 

He glanced back of him, but quickly found that 
he had need of all his eyesight in another quarter, 
for he at once tripped, and came near sprawling 
flat. 

Nevertheless it might be noticed that he had 
now started into as much of a run as the tangled — 
growth by which he was confronted allowed. 
Strange to say, he still clung to the cub, such was 
his persistent nature. As his progress inereased, — 
and the sounds of pursuit became clearer, Bally- 
hoo would possibly change his mind about carry- 
ing the baby jaguar all the way to camp. 

‘*But, then,’’ he reasoned, in his set way, ‘‘if 


wl fa A Mey Rae 


76 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


things really get desperate, course I e’n drop the 
plagued thing. When the mother cat comes on it 
she’ll be satisfied, and not chase any further after — 
me. She’d better not, that’s all, if she knows — 
what’s good for her. I’d hate to kill the mother, 
and leave the cubs to starve to death, but then — 
they’re only Jaguars at the best, and killers of — 
other animals.’’ 


Ballyhoo could salve his elastic conscience in 


this fashion, but at the same time he soon began 
to wonder whether it was really wise for him to 
keep carrying that wretched little beast any fur- 
ther. It was struggling harder than ever now, as 
though it seemed to catch and recognize the cries 
of its parent not far distant. 

Some other animal sprang up ahead and rushed 
away. The sound of its passage gave Ballyhoo a — 
sudden sensation, as if a bucket of ice-cold water 
had been poured down his back. His breath too 
was beginning to come in pants, owing to the en- 
ergy he had to put forth in order to make for- 
ward progress. ) 

‘‘Guess the game is up,’’ he muttered, angrily, 
for he did hate to give over any project, however — 
simple, on which he had set his heart. ‘‘I’ve 
either got to get rid of this eub or else kill its 
mammy. Well, all right, if you object to being 
made a show of I’ll have to say good-bye. But, 
anyway, I’ve had one in my hands, which 1s some- 
thing. 9 | 

He had not ened while saying this. Aten het 
utes, even seconds, were too precious to admit of 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 17 


any such prodigal waste of time. Those strange 
eries were certainly getting close by now, and he 
might expect to see the enraged mother come 
leaping out of the bushes without much She er 
delay. 

So Ballyhoo dropped the cub. He did not throw 
it angrily down, but actually stopped to place it 
gently on the ground, which was after all a very | 
strange thing for a poy to do under the circum- 
stances. 

After that he gave a hurried look around, and 
then started off again. In fact, all this while in 
his haste the boy had taken very little heed as to 
which way he was going; to the right or left he 
had ducked, attracted more by some promising 
opening in the thick growth than any choice of di- 
rection. 

_ He had hardly managed to press on a score of 
paces when he heard a sound back of him that 
thrilled him to the core. It was the cry a cat 
might be expected to give utterance to on discov- 
ering a lost kitten. 

-Ballyhoo could not resist the temptation to look 
over his shoulder. He saw a flash of dun-colored © 
sides, and then there was an enormous jaguar 
standing over the spot where he had left the cub. 
So far as the boy could tell, the mother was. lick- 
ing the sleek coat of the baby. Of course her 
- wonderful scent would immediately tell her that 
a profane hand had lately held her offspring. 
Ballyhoo wondered if the insult would stir her 
blood to the fighting pitch, or whether, satisfied 


78 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES —_ 


now that she had recovered her own, the animal 
would go back to her lair. pho 
Then to his alarm he saw her raise that head 
with the short ears and the glaring eyes. She was 
looking straight at him, it seemed. The boy’s 


blood ran cold. He jumped to the conclusion that — 


the beast meant to spring after him, bent on aveng- 
ing her wrongs. 

Ballyhoo was so impressed with this thought 
that he even started to run, as it happened there 
appeared a little opening before him. Perhaps 
when the jaguar saw that he was departing she — 


would’ hesitate to leave her cub unprotected \ 


again. 

All might have gone well but for an unexpected 
accident. In plunging forward so hurriedly Bal- 
lyhoo managed to rush straight into a series of 
hanging vines, and, as luck would have it, he 
caught his leg in a crotch, so that he was thrown 
heavily to the ground. 

The first thing that came into his mind was the 
terrible thought connected with one of those mon- 
strous anacondas the professor had been telling 
them about. Ballyhoo had once seen a black 
caught in the tightening folds of a boa constric- 
tor, and could realize the horror that must come 
over any one thus trapped. 

He had struck rather heavily, and was a little ; 
dazed, but the first thing he did was to throw up 
his hand and feel to see if his worst fears would 
be realized. When he made the discovery that it 
was after all only a nest of tenacious lianas, hang- 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 79 


ing from the limb of a tree, into which he had 
rushed, at least his mind was relieved to a certain 
extent. 

Then another fact confronted him. It brought 
troubles of its own to cause the boy a renewal of 
his fears. Try as he would, he did not seem able 
to break away from the tenacious grip of those 
vines. In some strange fashion they had wound 
themselves about his leg, or rather his foot; and 
although he tugged desperately until there was 
danger of dislocating his ankle, it was without any 
appreciable result. 3 

He was surely trapped, and with that savage 
jaguar only forty feet or so away, ready to spring 
and tear him to pieces. Ballyhoo then remem- 
bered about his rifle. It had been in his hand at 
the time he took that nasty header, but he cer- 
tainly did not have it now. The shock of his fall 
must have torn it from his grasp. He looked 
frantically about, hoping to see the faithful gun 
on which his very life might depend lying within 
easy reach. Then he could snatch it up, squirm 
around so as to face the enemy, and prepare to 
fight to the last. 

There was a grievous disappointment in store 
for Ballyhoo. True enough, his rifle was there in 
plain sight, but it had been hurled far enough 
away so that no matter how he strained his body 
he could not come within twenty inches of the end 
of the stock! 

Never in all his life had Ballyhoo Jones found 
himself in such a dreadful predicament as just 


90 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 

then; and if he could have been given an oppor. 
tunity to figure out what his feelings were, douhbt- 
less he would have bitterly repented of his rash 


act in meddling with that jaguar mother’s 
cubs. 


CHAPTER IX 
LOSING HIS BEARINGS 


‘Lire a flash of light the boy had an inspiration. 


_ He had been tugging with might and main to get 


his foot free from that clinging vine, but always 


_in the one direction. The simplest way to break 


away would be to push his foot out in the same 


fashion that it had gone in! 


Ié took considerable nerve to ‘‘hack water’’ 


- when he knew that beast was crouching there so 


near at hand; for in doing so he was actually de- 


ies 


ereasing the distance between them; but with 
clenched teeth, and perhaps white cheeks in the 


bargain, Baliyhoo persisted. 


He held his breath while he worked, and oh! 
how eagerly did he strain his hearing so as to con- 
tinually catch that soft purring sound made by the 
jaguar. By this he understood she was still lick- 


ing the cub, as though contented to have it once 
more im her possession, even though the two- 
legged robber did lie groveling there on the 


ground. 
Then the boy felt his foot come free. He never 


81 
6—A.0. 


82 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


experienced a sensation equal to the spasm of re- — 
lief that swept over him from head to toe on find- 
ing that he could once more control his move- 
ments. The first thing he did was to crawl for- 
ward with outstretched hands toward the spot 
where his gun lay. 

How good it felt to get hold of the weapon — 
again. It only showed what confidence one may 
put in such a means for defending life against sav- 
age attack. Ballyhoo no sooner had it in his pos- 
session than he turned, and still squatting there 
on his knees covered the jaguar. oan 

But his finger did not press the trigger. He 
was trembling all over; the light was none foo ~ 
good in the spot where the beast could be seen; 
and, worst of all, he had some reason to suspect 
from certain sounds that reached his ear there 
might be another creature of the same species, pos- 
sibly her mate, hovering near. 

Accordingly the boy held his hand, and did not 
allow the temptation-to fire have dominion over 
him. For once he showed that he could be dis- 
ereet, and perhaps it was just as well. | 

He saw that she still bent over the whelp and © 
licked it soothingiy, doubtless also in her brute — 
fashion telling her offspring that the danger was — 
over, and everything all right. ? 

‘‘Oh! I certainly do hope she is satisfied with — 
the fright she gave me,’’ Ballyhoo muttered, as 
he continued to keep arene with his rifle ready | 
for instant use, ‘‘and clears out with her ugly lit- 
tle bunch of spitting, snarling cat-meat. She ~ 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 83 


- ought to understand that I’m out of the running, 
- and don’t mean her any harm.’’ 

A brief time passed, but the minutes seemed like 
hours to the anxious boy. Then, greatly to his 
relief, he discovered that the mother jaguar had 
caught hold of the cub by the loose skin about its 
neck, just as many a time he had seen the 
pet cat at home carry her kittens back after 
they had been dispossessed oe a closet in the 
kitchen. 

**Bully for you, old lady!’’ whispered Ballyhoo, 
not wishing to speak out louder lest he annoy the 
beast, and cause her to change her mind. ‘‘I hope 
you go about your own business, and leave me 
alone. I’ve had all the fun with a jaguar cub I’m 
hankering after today, thank you.’’ 

To Ballyhoo’s surprise, after leaving the spot, 
the animal seemed to circle partly around him. He 
was puzzled to account for this fact, and it an- 
‘noyed him too. 

**Now I wonder why she does that? ? Ballyhoo 
asked himself. ‘‘Surely she knows the way back to 
where that other cub was left when she took after 
me, so she couldn’t be lost in her bearings. I 
guess she must know of another and better den 
than the one I ran on, and is making for that. 
But, hang the luck, she’s right in my-path when I 
start again for camp!’’ 

There was nothing apparently for him to do but 
make a detour. Ballyhoo accordingly bore off to 
one side, and cautiously advanced. His one 
thought just then was to give a wide berth to that 


eS Fa aa eS Se. a 9 Ss ee, 
Ae We te a oh ee oe af are ey ate AE 


Valin) ee aoe ae 


84 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


section where he believed he was apt to again run 
across the jaguars. 


It was not long when he discovered that he: WAS ) 
passing through country where it was even more — 


difficult to navigate than any ground he had thus 


far encountered. A number of times, in order to — 


make any advance at all, he had to use his ma- 
chete in order to slash a gash through the matted 


growth by which he was confronted. Then on 


other occasions Ballyhoo, thinking diseretion the — 


better part of labor, chose to veer aside and go 
completed around the obstacle that was in his 
way. 

It was not so very surprising that under such 
conditions the boy beeame what he frankly called 


‘‘rattled,’? In-so far as a definite knowledge con- — 
cerning the position of the camp was con- — 


cerned. 
‘Huh! seems a bit like the same old story,” he 


said at one time, when stopping to wipe his wet — 
face with his big bandana handkerchief. ‘‘In fact, 


I’m feeling some of the well remembered sensa- 


tions of being adrift without a compass. Let’s a 


see, over there the sun-is certainly getting low ) 


down, and that must be West. Then North is over 


on my right, and Hast still further along. I’m 
dead sure of the cardinal points of the compass, 
if that was all I had to worry me; but where in 


the wide world does that camp lie, Bast, Nore or . 


West of here?’’ 


As usually happens, the more Ballyhoo tried to : s 


remember the greater became his Scary) obs 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 8 


ideas. He went over the details as many as half 
_ a dozen times before he could seem to grip any- 
thing like the facts. And at that there was but 
- eold comfort in figuring it out. 

He made another start, and kept at it bravely 
for some time, but, as before, found himself con- 
fronted by many impassable thickets and over- — 
' grown masses of vegetation that looked so much 
_ like harboring places for snakes that Ballyhoo 
did not have the nerve to cut his way through, and 
so he resumed his former policy of taking the 
easiest and safest route, which meant going 
around. 

This kept puzzling him as to where he was head- 
ing, and he had to stop again so as to get his bear- 
ings in hand. It would have been easy to tell 
where the West lay, if only his view happened to 
be less obstructed, for there must have been a 
great glow in the sky, with the sun setting. But 
so dense was the foliage overhead, and such the 
rank growth all about him, that he could rarely 
catch a glimpse of the heavens above, and had to 
make a sort of guess. 

Ballyhoo now began to get alarmed. He knew 
night was not far distant, and yet he failed to 
have the slightest idea where the camp lay, or 
how far away. He tried shouting, but received no 
answer to his salutes. He would have fired his 
gun a number of times, but prudence urged him to 
save all his shots, for there was no telling hew 
“badly he would need them before this adventure 
_ came to an end. | 


86 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


‘‘Welll’’? he exclaimed, with a half iene ae 
he had shouted and whistled and done all that lay 
in his power to attract attention without result, 
‘*this is a nice kettle of fish, | must say.. You’ve 
gone and done it again, Ballyhoo Jones, seems 
like. I believe you could get lost in a wood-lot up 
home and then not half try. They’ll have to put a 
bell on you like we do with our old cow, so we can 
find her if she strays away. And how d’ye — 
suppose it’s going to feel going hungry ne 
eh??? 

Now that it was too late to remedy matters he 
was becoming more and more disgusted with his 
action in bothering about those silly little spitting 
eubs. If only he had left them alone, instead of 
bothering to carry one off, all this trouble might : 
have been avoided. 

‘* Another time see to it you mind your own busi- 
ness, and don’t stick your nose where it isn’t 
wanted, Ballyhoo Jones,’’ he continued, after he 
had tripped and come near measuring his full 
length on the ground, for it was not so easy to de- 
tect those miserable vines now that grew so close 


to the earth, and served as traps for unwary 


feet. | | 
He began to realize that he could not keep this — 
up much longer. Apparently, then, he was — 
doomed to spend a night all alone in the Orinoco — 


wilderness, with its myriad of strange.creature in- 


habitants, from monkeys to tiger-cats and 
such. 
All at once Ballyhoo stopped, and half ‘threw 4 


ALONG THE ORINOCO ~—_-—s87 


his gun up to his shoulder. There came a crash- 
ing in the undergrowth as though some large 
or bulky animal might be dashing toward 
him. 
Following the sounds, he was just able to make 
out some clumsy-looking animal that seemed to be 
a cross between a domestic hog and a rhinoceros, 
such as he had seen in African wilds. It was for- 
tunately running. past, and evinced no intention 
of attacking him, a fact Ballyhoo discovered with 
no small degree of satisfaction. | 
‘*Guess now that must have been one of those 
- tapirs the professor has been telling us about,”’’ 
he went on to say; for, like most persons who are 
lost, Ballyhoo liked to hear the sound of his own 
voice, for it helped to give him a fictitious confi- 
dence. ‘‘But then they’re not so very dangerous, 
I understand. Wonder now if I ought to have 
‘tried to knock him over. If his flesh would taste 
as much like hog as his looks say, I might not have 
had to go supperless tonight. But shucks! my 
hindsight is always a heap better than my fore- 
sight; and I reckon I’ll have an empty stomach 
till morning comes, when I can shoot some game, 
and have a feast.”’ | | 
Another timet must have been some bird that 
seurried out of the lower branches of a tree, 
though the sudden sound again caused Ballyhoo’s 
heart to jump wildly. He was in a nervous con- 
dition after that shock when his foot caught in 
those vines. 
It was now rapidly growing dark, a fact the 


he ee ST ap eo a REIT A pe EAS Seat 
ae May ee Lee SERED ee ISBN 
it mittee ¢ ree oa er SO 
L ee Th ake  e, Se oe e 3 


88  YHE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES  _ 


boy noted with increasing uneasiness. He eould 


people the gloom that was gathering around him 
with all manner of savage monsters ready to 
pounce down upon him. 

‘‘Wow! what’s that up yonder??? he exclaimed, 


as he eaught sight of two luminous spots that must 


have been the eyes of some living things at first 
Ballyhoo believed he was up against another jag- 
tar, but just then a ‘‘whoo-00-00”’ in the near dis- 
tance explained that this must be the mate to the 
owl he was hearing off yonder. 


Nevertheless he made a little detour, net fancy- 


ing passing directly under the tree where he had 
seen those weird phosphorescent spots. When he 
ran into a large hanging vine Ballyhoo decided it 


was time to halt. “f 
‘‘Why, that might just as well have been a 
whopper of a snake,’’ he told himself, after com- — 


ing to this conclusion. ‘‘It isn’t safe tramping 
around in these woods after nightfall. So I’d 


better eall a halt now’as later, after the mischief — 


is done.’’ 


Thus reasoning, he set about finding a place : 


where he might build a fire, for he was determined 


not to think of passing the night there without — 
something of this sort to protect him against al 


prowling wild beasts. 


‘“‘One thing I’m glad to say,’’ he anes 


proudly, ‘‘which is that on this occasion I’m all 
fixed with plenty of matches. That other time, — 


when I got mixed in my bearings away over in 


Afriea, I had the misfortune to se stapes im- ; 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 89 


_ portant things; which forced me to shin up a tree, 
- and stay there all night, with a whole army of 
lions walking around beneath, waiting for me te 
drop down like a ripe plum. But this seems about 
as good a place as I can find, so here goes for a 
blaze !’’ 


CHAPTER X 
THE LONE CAY-P-FIRE 


Ir certainly did improve things considerably 


after he had a little blaze started. Ballyhoo has- 


tened to add to it by throwing on some larger 


wood. As the night was anything but cool thus 


far, he understood that he would probably be par- 
boiled or roasted if he carried his plans out; but 


———— ee Sl i eS eS TO 


~even that was preferable to being devoured bY cod 


wild beasts. 


‘‘T used to write in ie that ‘those who pee | 


by the sword will perish by the sword,’ ’’ Ballyhoo 


reminded himself, feelingly; ‘‘and mebbe now be- 


cause I’ve always been so fond of imitating all 


sorts of wild animals I’m doomed to make a meal — c 


for one of the four-legged creatures. Well, here 


goes for a second fire. If only I thought I could % 


get enough stuff together I’d make even a third 


one, so I could squat down in the triangle between 


them all, and be protected on every hand.’’ 


When he had both fires going the gloom seemed 
less terrible. In fact, Ballyhoo almost began to 
feel cheerful, and told himself that if only he had ~ 


some meat to toast on the end of sticks, with per-_ a 


90 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 91 


haps a pot of coffee to wash it. down, he wouldn’t 
mind sticking it out all night there, backed up as 
he was with his faithful repeating rifle. 
_ But as he did not possess a scrap of food, this 
prospect was only in the nature of a dream. He 
hastened to put it out of his mind. There was 
little else to do save gather wood for his fires, 
and presently Ballyhoo devoted himself to that la- 
bor: with increased energy. The thought had 
come to him, what if beasts prowled around just 
outside the circle of light his fires made, how 
could he then expect to keep up his wood-gather- 
ing, when it might be unsafe for him to wander 
ten feet away from his base? 

The forest was no longer silent as when sunset 
saw him trudging through its dim aisles. All 
sorts of noises reigned, from the hum of insects 
to the calls of unknown pag tial: searching for 
their prey. 

Ballyhoo had reason to place that somewhere 
close at hand there must be a sort of slough, or 
small pond in the heart of a swampy stretch. The 
sounds that proceeded from this section exceeded 
all others in volume; some of them were of a mys- 
terious nature, too, sending a shiver over the boy, 
though he always laughed at himself for allowing 

this. 
He never went out after wood but what he clung 
to his gun, for he realized what a dreadful thing 
it would be if some animal sprang toward him 
while he was unarmed. Consequently, being thus 
hampered, he could only fetch a smal! quantity 


92 ‘THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES - ee 


in at a time, which forced him to make numerous: | 


forays. 


Between times, after he had piled up ae a 


nice lot of fuel, he sat there in between his two 
fires, with his hands clasped about his knees, and 
his gun close beside him, reflecting. 


His thoughts turned back to his two ehums, Se ; ; 


then went much further afield: again Ballyhoowas 


in the home town, perhaps under his own roof en- 
joying a ‘‘dandy spread’’ at Thanksgiving time, 


with turkey, cranberry sauce, turnips, potatoes, | 


mince and pumpkin pie, and perhaps to wind up 


with ice cream. His mouth fairly watered at the 


thought, and he had to shut his teeth tightly to- 
gether to repress a groan as he compared his hun- 
gry condition with that roseate state. 


“‘Here, just quit bothering with thinking about A 


the impossible,’’ he told himself, while with one 


hand he rubbed his empty stomach. ‘*Serves you 


right, after playing the fool. Hope you get the — 


lesson pounded well into your head, and let well — 


enough alone after this. When you see a pretty 
little cub belonging to a wild animal just look the — 


other way, and go on about your own business. 
Oh! what’s that, I wonder?’’ 


Something was certainly moving close to the — 
ground. He craned his neck the better to look at 
it. Yes, and he remembered that he had just re-— 
cently come from that identical spot, so he knew 
there had not a short time before been ane a 


alive there. But undoubtedly something Was 


iy by Be ray yo) . 
- Sila toe She ed em 


moving, yes, and coming in a direct line for bina! “ 


ALONG THE ORINOCO ~ 93 


_ **@ee whiz! I wonder could it be a jaguar, now, 
or one of those smaller cats they call ocelots?”’ 
_ Ballyhoo asked himself. ‘‘It looks pretty low 
_ down for that, but haven’t I seen how a eat can 
_ flatten itself when it wants to sneak on to the spar- 
row it’s marked for dinner?- Well, I’ll watch and 
see. At the worst, I can give the creature some- 
thing to startle him.’’ 
So he knelt there and kept busy watching. 
Closer still the queer object drew. The boy’s be- 
wilderment increased, for by now he had fully 
decided that it could not be any jaguar. Then in 
advancing it must have come to some obstacle 
that forced a little change in its course. At that 
moment, too, the nearer fire chose to send up a 
new burst of flame, and Ballyhoo gave a star- 
 tled grunt. 
Well, I declare if it isn’t a great big alliga- 
tor!’’ he exclaimed, after making a discovery. 
‘*Where in the wide world could he have sprung 
from? Oh! I forgot I’d settled it; there must be 
a lagoon of some sort over that way. Yes, and 
it’s full of great big crawlers in the bargain, I 
bet you. This one must have grown curious about 
all this fire business, and come up to see what it 
meant. ’’ 
The fact that he was in danger of being inun- 
- dated with a flood of savage and hungry saurians 
at any time during that long night did not serve 
to make Ballyhoo feel any happier. He knew that 
they liked human flesh, and remembered reading 
how in India in olden times mothers used to throw 


“94 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


the babies they didn’t want to the crocodiles of 
the sacred Ganges. 

‘Hey! better turn tail, and go back to where 
you came from, old chap,’’ he sang out, hardly 


caring to waste one of his precious shots im try- 


ing to dispose of such a useless reptile. 


Taking up a clump of wood, he hurled it with — 


such splendid aim that it crashed against the head — 


of the crawling alligator, and caused the creature 


to immediately scurry back the same way it had © 


come. Ballyhoo felt as though he had achieved a 
great triumph with that lucky shot. 

‘‘That comes from being a baseball pitcher,”’ 
he plumed himself by saying. ‘‘Only practice 


would allow a fellow to hit the alligator’s bull’s- _ 


eye like that. Didn’t I once get four prizes at the 


fair by plunking the nigger’s head with a base- © 


ball? But, say, I hope I won’t have to use up 


much of my fuel that way. They might play the 
game of drawing my fire till my ammunition got 
- low, and then rush the camp.’’ 3 

As time passed on-he found, somewhat to his 


satisfaction, that no other alligators followed — 
after that leader. Possibly he scattered a warn- — 
ing abroad that it was dangerous to creep up too — 
near that dazzling light, for it was no sun, after — 
all. But from time to time Ballyhoo heard a loud — 


bellow from some old bull that reminded him of ~ 


the stock farms at home. 


He yawned, and stretched himself time and 


sik sili Tek ge PS 


again. It promised to be the longest night in his — 


whole experience, not excepting the one that al- = 


ba. ee 
yD Pe To, 


ALONG THE ORINOCO Y5 


_ Ways came just before Christmas, and the day be- 
fore school would let out for the summer vacation. 

He wished those monkeys would quit chattering 
there among the trees, scolding their babies, and 
perhaps holding a council to consider the next 
day’s campaign in search of fresh nut trees. 
Then Ballyhoo had another bad shock. This 
_ time he felt sure he could not be mistaken, and 
_ that the object dangling there from the limb of a 

tree that stood at least fifteen feet from the 
_ ground swung to and fro with a rhythmie stroke 
that meant it was a living thing, and not a mere 
- thick vine. 
Yes, it was a snake, Ballyhoo was positive of — 
that! He had run across about every other sort 
of thing that lived in the Orinoco forest but an 
anaconda, and now he PEs he was staring 
straight at one. 

Perhaps some of that fierce Grae ee on the 
_ part of the monkey tribe had been caused by the 
presence of this same serpent in the vicinity, for 
the professor had told them how monkeys are 
deemed a choice bite by anacondas. The fire may 
have attracted the reptile, which made Ballyhoo 
wish he could do without a blaze, though of the 
two evils he felt he would rather face what he had 
to with light to see, rather than grope around in 
the gloom, and know enemies were nearby, but 
hidden from his view. 

No danger of his losing his senses in slumber, 
now: that he knew such a terrible foe menaced 
him. He got up on one knee, and arranged him- 


%¢ THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES ce Sat 


self so that he might steady one elbow in case he 
wished to take accurate aim. — 
Would the giant serpent finally grow weary of ’ 
dangling there, and waving its big head back and - 
forth? In such a case it was just as apt to drop 
to the ground and come gliding toward him. Were — 
snakes in dread of fire, just as all wild animals — 
seemed to be? For the life of him, Ballyhoo could ~ 
not remember, if he had ever known. Suppose, — 
then, he did snatch up a blazing brand and hurlit — 
with the same great luck that had attended his — 
effort with that root; was this action likely to be — 
taken as a polite invitation to decamp on the part — 
of the great anaconda, or would it fly into a rage — 
and come gliding straight at him? Pe 
Several times Ballyhoo let his cheek rest against 3 
the stock of his gun. He was constantly covering _ 
that slowly moving head. me 
‘“‘T bet you I could hit it as easy as anything, — 
just when it gets to the end of the swing,’’ he told — 
himself. ‘‘Ought I to make the try or not? Seems — 
like I have to choose between six of one and half ~ 
a dozen of the other. And if the old thing starts ~ 
over this Wee JL never can count on hitting it while = 
in motion.’ _ 
This decided him in the end, He was making a ‘i 
deliberate choice, and believed that in settling on — 
firing he was really taking the better chance. Ac-— 
cordingly he now prepared to shoot, not without % 
considerable uneasiness, it must be confessed; for — 
he dreaded the result of his daring in ease he lee : 
te dispatch the monster snake. 3 


ALONG THE ORINOCO a gr 


_ “T’ve just got to do it, you see,’’ he assured him- 

‘self, ‘so stop your shivering, Ballyhoo Jones, and 
Show what you’re made of. Guess you’ve shot a 
‘heap of other things just as ferocious as any old 
anaconda can ever be. And you’ve got to hit that 
big head plum center, mind you. Then if he does 
come this way throw yourself flat on the ground, 
and p’r’aps he can’t get his folds around you so 
easy. They don’t bite, only squeeze. Now steady, 
boy, steady it is!’’ 

He believed his chance had come. With the 
trained eye of one who had shot swiftly-flying 
ducks on the wing, Ballyhoo pressed the trigger 
of his rifle just as the swinging head reached the 
end of its pitch to the right. There would be just 
a half second’s hold there, he knew from his ex- 
‘perience in breaking clay targets, and hitting 
Swinging ones, before it started back again, and 
that is always the best time to do execution. 

The gun sounded sharp and clear. Ballyhoo in- 
stantly commenced working the mechanism so as 
to have another cartridge in the firing chamber 
should the first have failed in its mission, which 
he certainly hoped might not prove to be the case. 


CHAPTER XI 
SHOOTING AN ANACONDA 


‘‘Gor him, that’s what I did!’ burst from the © 
boy’s lips, as glancing up after quickly placing his 
gun in condition for further use he saw a writh- — 
ing mass of coils threshing about on the ground ~ 
with terrific force. 4 

Ballyhoo stared aghast at the thrilling spectacle ~ 


of that monster serpent displaying such frightful ~ 


energy inits convulsions. He knew his bullet must 7 
have smashed the reptile’s head, and that what he 
now witnessed were the dying throes of his Beaty 
enemy. : 

Now the snapping folds had wrapped around a @ 
tree, and the boy could easily imagine how his own ~ 
poor ribs must have given way under such a tre- 
mendous pressure as the anaeonda displayed. He 
felt greatly pleased to know that it was an inani- 
mate object which was being treated to such an 
exhibition of furious force. . 

Ballyhoo was a little skeptical with regard to 
the ability of the serpent to do him any harm. 
He felt like stepping closer, and using another 

98 


ae its can rt bother me any inee? the boy. 
himself, with a sigh of relief. ‘“‘RightnowI 
5 that the big chap is getting weaker and 
eke how about his mate, for I reckon 


Paice: ae kee: Ae creeping cats. Ugh! — 

sn’t much fun to find yourself alone in these 
y forests, with all these creepy things 

|, and that’s a fact.”’ | 

7 "the minutes did drag. Pees suffered 


sin a Sometimes in his eagerness to discover — 
of « ee Hee almost believed — 


100 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES  __ 


as though they never would near the western hori- — 
zon. “ 
He was pretty well fagged out wher finally he — 
did discover that the first gleam of daylight was 
coming in the eastern heavens. How slowly it — 
progressed, only his impatient spirit could attest; — 
but in the end he began to be able to see objects 
around him again, which fact made him A = 
happy. : 
‘“Whee! I'll never, never forget that awful = 
night, if I live to the age of Methuselah,’’ was what 
Ballyhoo told himself, as he stood up to stretch — 
and yawn for the twentieth time. 
He looked with a shudder toward the spot where 
the great anaconda had last been seen. Then he 
rubbed his eyes, for those huge folds were no 
longer wrapped around the tree. But immediately — 
afterwards he saw the snake extended upon the 
ground, where it had fallen in a last vain effort 
to crawl away; and there it was, stretched out at 
full length. eS 
Just then Ballyhoo became conscious of the fact 
that the monkeys were unusually vociferous. He 
could only see them passing from tree to tree, 
clinging to the branches, and chattering at a lively 
rate continually. 3 Be 
‘‘Wonder what’s up,’”’ the boy was saying, for 
when alone in the wilds it is some comfort to hold 
a conversation with one’s self; ‘‘the Johnnies act 
as if they meant to hold a caucus, because they’ Te. 
all converging toward a common centre. Mus 
be a special court they’re expecting to convene, 
Sen Sia ee ee 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 101 


try a eriminal offender, because Professor Yardley 
says they act a heap like human beings.’” 

He watched the assembling groups, and even 
‘mimiced some of their cries, for this was just in 
Ballyhoo’s line, it must be remembered. 

**Mebbe they’re just curious about me,’’ he now 
remarked. ‘‘Never saw a two-legged creature 
with a white skin before, and they want to find 
out what the latest style in fashionably cut clothes 
is like.”’ 

He was chuckling over this humorous suggestion 
when all at once an idea broke in upon his mind. 
He noticed that some of the old monkeys seemed 
to be staring down in a solemn way, and trying 
to draw the attention of the younger fry to some- 
thing of deep interest. 

“Why, sure, it’s the old anaconda they’re gap- 
ing at,’’ Ballyhoo admitted. ‘‘They sense that the 
big snake is a dead one, and that it’s safe now to 
show him to the kids and baby monks. See how 
that old patriarch with the gray beard chatters 
and scolds, will you? I bet you he’s preaching a 
regular sermon right now, if only a fellow could 
understand monkey talk. Gee! the trees are full 
of the swinging critters. I wager there’s as many 
as fifty, if there’s one, and all just taking it out 
in looking. Not one dares drop down ‘and step up 
to touch the dead enemy. Even as it is they fear 
that he may be playing ’possum, just to coax them 
within reach.’’ 

-Ballyhoo began to realize that he was fearfully 
hungry. It seemed to him, once he allowed this 


102 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES | 


fact to take possession of his mind, as though he 
were on the border of actual starvation. A boy 
with a healthy appetite, accustomed to devouring 
three square meals each and every day, when two 
of these were missed usually as a ‘‘gone’’ feeling - 
that makes him imagine his end must be near at 
hand. | 

**T wonder just how ine I could stand this??? 
he asked himself, in a mournful tone, and with a 
sad shake of his head. ‘‘Why, my stomach nearly 
rubs against my backbone right now, I’m so — 
empty. Course I can hunt for some sort of game, 
after I get started, and with plenty of matches I 
could make a fire to cook it.. Oh! what’s to hinder ~ 
me from knocking over one of those young monks, 
and cooking some meat? JI remember the profes- — 
sor telling us how he was saved from starving 
once by a meal of monkey flesh.’’ 

The idea fascinated him so much that he started 
looking around so as to pick out his vietim. There 
would be little treuble in doing that, for he could — 
see some of the simians squatting in various 
trees, and moving back and forth with the ut- 
most freedom, as though they never dreamed of 
danger proceeding from another ‘Species of bi- 
ped. : 
Ballyhoo even sighted along the barrel of his — 
rifle. His finger had commenced to feel for the — 
trigger, and that was all the further it got, for a 
mighty shudder passed over him, and down went 
the gun. , 

‘‘Shucks! I just can’t do it!’? he exclaimed in 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 103 


disgust. ‘‘Seems too much like shooting a human 
being. I’m not so hungry that I could turn canni- 
bal. Guess there must be birds I can get, or some- 
thing that would seem more in my line. Hope I 
never will come to eating a monkey.’’ ys 

So he continued to watch the hosts come and 
go, and listen to the din of their chattering, which 
reminded Ballyhoo of a certain convention of town 
_ gossips he had once seen on a local stage in his 
home town. He was only waiting for another half 
hour to pass so that the last of the shadows would- 
have departed from the forest. Somehow Bally-: 
hoo did not like to start his wanderings again 
until it was broad daylight, with the sun above 
the horizon, and insect and animal life were once 
more rampant. 

He wondered what his chums were thinking of 
his absence. Of course Philip Jenks had in due 
time returned to the camp, and when it was found 
that Ballyhoo had failed to turn up a search must 
have undoubtedly been’ commenced. 

*‘Yes, and Oscar as well as Jack,’’ he went on 
to say, reflectively, ‘‘would be able to tell from 
the tracks that I’d picked up that tiger cub, and 
been followed by the mother jaguar. Guess they’ll 
think I was a silly, and I won’t quarrel with them 
about that part of it. Course they’ll expect to 
start out, and give a look around for me this 
morning. Same old story of the babes in the’ 
woods; but anyhow, I’ve been able to look out for. 
myself.’’ 

He listened every now and then, hoping to satch 


104. THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES  —_ 


some distant shout, or it might be the feeble ; re- 4 
port of a gun. How gladly would he answer such 
a signal, and wait for the rescuing party to tarn 


up. 


he heard the plain report of a gun. 


How the sound thrilled him through and through : 
Never in all his life could he ever haye discov-- 
ered so much music in the common everyday dis- — 
charge of a rifle or a shotgun. Then they were ~ 
looking for him, and that shot had been meant to 
tempt an answer, if he were within range of its — 


echoes. 


So Ballyhoo fired, and instantly all the ee So 
chattering ceased as if by magic, though the long- — 
tailed animals could be seen beating a ludicrous ~ 
retreat in every direction, as though in a panic, 
and under the helief that the terrible anaconda — 
might be responsible for that sudden crashing ree 


port. 


decided. 


Before that time passed he heard a seeoall aa 
this tame much closer. This he shies PprOme ly 


It had come finally that Ballyhoo was ready to ~ 
leave the place of his night’s encampment, and 
- strike out toward the east, under the belief that 
he must run upon the river in that quarter, when 


Then the boy sat down again to wait. “athens oe 
was no use trying to meet the coming reseue party os 
halfway, for in that thick growth they would be 
very apt to pass one another by. If he did 
not hear any further sign of them by half an © 
hour he could discharge his gun again, Halling, 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 105 


and then waited again. Finally the sound of voices 
came to him, accompanied by the swish of a 
machete slashing a passage through the matted 
mass of vegetation. 

‘‘Hey! Osear—Jack!’’ he shouted, cupping his 
hands to form a megaphone. 

**Ballyhoo, ahoy!’’ came a reassuring ery; 
*‘we’re on the way. Stay where you are!”’ 

**You bet I will,’’ the tired boy told himself, 
once more settling down to wait. 

To pass the time away he amused himself in 
- deciding on his menu for the jolly breakfast he 
anticipated devouring when he got back to camp 
again. He could almost imagine he smelled the 
bacon frying, and see the coffee bubbling in the 
pot; and now it did make him sigh and count the 
minutes. 

- But there, the boys were close at hand now. 
Ballyhoo began to wonder if thoughtful Jack 
might not have fetched something to eat along 
with him, under the suspicion that the wanderer 
would be almost ravenous for food. 

**T certainly hope he has,’’ Ballyhoo told. him- 
self, eagerly, ‘‘because I don’t see how I could 
ever hold out till we covered all that distance back 
to camp. Why, I’d drop over from sheer weak- 
ness before I’d gone halfway. Yes, I surely do 
hope Jack put some crackers and cheese in his 
pocket before he started out.’’ 

Well, there they came, and besides the two 


chums he saw Philip Jenks and the headman. of 


the Indian helpers. Ballyhoo waved his hat, and 


106 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


gave a brave shout; but to tell the truth there were 
tears in his eyes that he tried to wink away. Those — 
faithful comrades certainly did look good to him, 
after passing such a miserable night there in the 
wilds of the Orinoco. | 


CHAPTER XII 
THE MONKEY BRIDGE 


Soon the others reached the spot, and were 
shaking hands with the wanderer. 

**Where’s the cub?’’ asked Oscar, looking 
as though he half expected to see a chubby 
young jaguar snugly nestling under Ballyhoo’s 
coat. : 

‘Oh! You found out what a silly thing 
did, of course!’’ exploded the other turning 
red. ‘‘Well, I dropped the critter all right, and 
then had the mean luck to get caught fast in one 
of those dangling vines. Gee! I thought the mother 
cat would jump on my back, and with my gun ten 
feet away on the ground. But I did manage to 
squirm free, and fell on my gun; and after all 
the old lady concluded I wasn’t worth bothering 
with, so she went away, carrying her whelp by the 
scruff of the neck.’’ 

‘*But what made you turn out, and go around, 
losing track of the river?’’ asked Oscar, which re- 
mark proved that they had certainly followed his 
trail. 
| | 107 


108 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES = core 


‘‘Oh! you see the jaguar mother had gone in 
the very direction I wanted to take,’? explained 
Ballyhoo, ‘‘and so I made up my mind I’d better 
cut stick and pass around. Well,’’ he added, with | 
a shrug of his shoulders, ‘‘of course I had to go 
and get all mixed up; but that was on account of = 
the many places where I had to go around. What’s =~ 
the use of trying to gloss it over? I just gotlost, 
and must have kept on going further and further 
away all the while. Then, when night began to 
come on, I coneluded I’d better camp.’’ | Z 
‘‘T see you made two fires,’’ commented J ar 5 
“Was that to scare wild beasts away, or were you 
cold??? ae 
‘‘T did it to feel safe,’? admitted Ballyhoo, can- 
didly. ‘‘All sorts of things were likely to drop 
in on me. Once I saw a whopping big alligator 
come crawling up like he wanted to make a meal = 
of me. I shooed him off by hitting him on the 
snout with a chunk of wood. Guess theremustbe 
a lagoon over yonder. And there was something 
worse than that to come. Take a look over there, 
both of you!’ eo 
' Of course Jack and Oscar were really startled 4 
to see the enormous snake lying stretched out 
amidst the grass. They could easily under- ~~ 
stand that Ballyhoo had by means of his shot 
smashed that big head, and broniit about its See 
death. oe 
‘‘Was it going to Back yout”? demanded J ae ae 
while Oscar started pacing off the leet of ee i 
Monster. oe 


i 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 109 


**Well, it acted like it meant to,’’ came the re- 
ply. ‘‘And I made up my mind I had a better 
chance to hit its swinging head while it hung down 
from a tree than if it was crawling along the 
ground at me, so I shot. Then I sat here awake 
the livelong night, expecting its mate would show 
up, sooner or later.’’ 

‘Twenty-three feet, and a little over,’’ an- 
nounced Oscar, triumphantly. ‘‘That surely is 
- some snake, Ballyhoo. And it’s a mighty good 

thing he.didn’t get a chance to throw those folds 
around you.’’ 

**But tell me, Jack, have you such a thing as a 
bite in your pocket, for I’m almost famished right 
now?’’ pleaded the prodigal chum. —_- 

It turned out that wise, thoughtful Jack had 
done just what Ballyhoo suspected, for he now 
drew forth a ‘‘snack,’’ which he had thrust into 
his pocket before quitting the camp. The hungry 
boy pounced on it, and commenced tearing huge 
fragments off as if he had not eaten a morsel in a 
whole week. 

Later on they started back again. Professor 
Yardley would be very anxious to know whether 
their hunt had met with any success; though pos- 
sibly the sound of the shots may have reached 
his ears, and conveyed something of the joyous 
truth. 7 

In due time they arrived at the river bank. 
Ballyhoo lost not a single minute, but started get- — 
ting himself some breakfast. His tongue ran on 
while thus engaged, and he told his comrades all 


110 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


about the ‘‘monkey school’’ he had seen convene 
there in the forest, with the elders pointing out to 
the attentive youngsters what their most terrible 
enemy, the scaly monster of an anaconda, looked © 
like. 

‘‘Oh! you missed one of the biggest pictures a: 
going, Jack,’’ he told the photographer of the 
expedition, ‘‘when you failed to be on hand and 
catch that comical set. It would have brought 
the house down oer time, some of ’em did such 
' ridiculous stunts.’ 

‘*Let’s hope another chance may come along,’’ 
was Jack’s philosophical response; ‘‘but hold on, 
Ballyhoo, you’re starting to cook enough for ten 
men. 99 

‘“Well, I feel like ten men,’’ erinned the other, | © 
‘Sas far as capacity goes.’’ 7 

In the end he gorged himself until he could 
hardly breathe. ne a 

‘‘Huh!’’ he grunted, ‘‘guess we didn’t save 
much by my missing two meals, after all. But 
I’m feeling prime now, and ready to go on when 
the professor says.the word.’’ 

Sitting in a canoe meant no exertion, which was 
a fortunate thing, because really Ballyhoo would. 
have been incapable of doing any walking after 
all that gorging. a 

‘‘Better for me to be stuffing myself this way 
than stuffing that anaconda!’’ he ventured to say, 
with a little shudder, as he remembered the size 
of the reptile’s mouth when the jaws were ay a 
distended. 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 111 


It became evident that they were now close to 
the junction of the smaller river with the broader 
Orinoco. Observations taken from time to time 
convinced the professor that the stream they had 
been ascending must really be one of the numer- 
ous outlets or mouths comprising the delta of the 
Orinoco, although this fact would always be sub- 
ject to doubt; for during the rainy season they 
understood that the current often set toward 
the river, as though it might be a branch or 
feeder. 

‘*It’s one of the marvels of this land of many 
mysteries,’’ the professor said when talking over 
the matter with the others. ‘‘A river that flows 
both ways is something you could hardly expect 
to find outside of a fairy tale; yet here it is be- 
yond a doubt. By tonight I expect we’ll be look- 
ing on the Orinoco itself, and after that the land 
of the orchids will soon be reached.’’ 

His prophecy turned out true, and two days 
later he was revelling in such riches of plant life 
as he had hardly dreamed could exist. He se- 
cured dozens of the most exquisite orchids, of 
hues and shapes never before seen by the eye of 
an enthusiast. Already the plant hunter was 
more than satisfied with the fruits of his la- 
bors, and ready to call the expedition a huge suc- 
CeSS, : / 

Nor was he the only pleased one. Young Jenks 
too was securing a multitude of specimens of 
birds, many of which he believed might turn out 
to be as yet unclassified. If only he could carry 


‘2 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


his prizes safely back to. Washington he ae 
that the whole scientific world would Becta. his 
enterprise. Si 
Then there was ambitious Jack. He too aa 
‘been picking up wonderful bits of strikingly in- ~ 
teresting scenes, all characteristic of such a rich — 
tropical country as that bordering the Orinoco, “ 
Besides the scenery he succeeded in catching nu- 
merous other motion pictures of animal and bird ; 
life in that wonderful country. 
Perhaps the most remarkable thing that he was 
enabled to secure came one day as they were in 
camp at a point where quite a deep little stream - 
poured its flood into the wide river. 
They had heard a great chattering at some little 
distanee back, as though a colony of monkeys 
might be moving through the treetops. Profes- 
sor Yardley hazarded the opinion that they were 
moving from one section of country to another, 
where perhaps living promised to be easier for 
the families, the nut crop being more generous. 
‘‘Tf you listen,’’ he went on to say shortly af- 
terwards, ‘‘you will find that they are coming this - 
way. Their usual method of travel is among the 
treetops, for they seldom move on the ground. 
And inside half an hour they’ll find themselves 
confronted by this small stream that they Sides 
have to cross.’ fe 
“But ean cians swim??? asked Ballyhoo. 
‘for hew else could they gue ACTORS, a8 it? re far 


say.’’ 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 113 - 


‘Wait and see,’’ the man of science told him; 
‘fand I’d advise Jack here to make sure that ,he 
has a fresh roll of films in his camera, so he can 
immortalize the whole operation. Unless I miss 
my guess it will be well worth our waiting even 
‘an hour or two to see.”’ 

Jack, impressed by these words, proceeded to 
get his camera adjusted and in readiness for im- 

mediate work. Ballyhoo thought he knew consid- 
erable about the ingenious ways ef monkeys in 
_ general, but for the life of him he could not guess 
how that entire colony, numbering perhaps fifty 
~members old and young, meant to cross over the 
stream dryshod. 

‘“There doesn’t seem to be any leaning tree that 
they could use for a bridge,’’ he finally - re- 
marked. _ 

**Oh! sometimes there are other bridges than 
those afforded by trees,’’ laughed the professor; 
‘*and now watch what happens, for I can see some 
of the older monkeys have arrived.’’ 

The comical animals were doing a great deal of 

running up and down the trees, all the while 
scolding and chattering furiously. Fimally one 
stout chap dropped down from a limb high up at 
a certain place. He hung by his tail head down. 
Jack of course was already busily engaged turn- 
ing his crank, for he realized that the remarkable 
happening mentioned by Professor Yardley was 
about to take place. 

A second strong monkey dropped down, fastened 
his tail about the body of the first, and also hung 


$—A.O./ 


114. THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES | 


suspended. Others succeeded until there was a 
chain of a dozen dangling there. ri 
‘“Oh, look!’’ exclaimed Ballyhoo, trembling ‘with. aS 
eagerness, ‘‘they’re beginning to get a move on. 
Now they’re starting to swing out and back again 
like a pendulum to a clock. Why, what d’ye think 
of that !—they’re aiming to swing right across the 
ereek, and let. that lowest chap grab a limb Of 
that big tree over there.’ 8 
Which it turned out was exactly what the evan 
- monkeys meant to do; and right there before the 
astonished boys ee completed their bridge. ~ 
Across this living arch the others now commenced, — 
to cross, mothers often carrying their babies on 
their backs, and presenting one of the most re- | 
markable sights ever beheld by mortal man.  __ 
‘‘T never would have believed it if Ihadn’t seen 
the thing with my own eyes!’’ Ballyhoo declared, | 
wild with delight. ‘‘Oh! just look.at some of the 
sly chaps in the living bridge, nipping at the feet — . 
of the others passing over. They’re as full of . 
mischief as an egg is of meat, for a fact. There, — ‘i 
that mother smacked one right in the face, and 
hear him jabber, will you? If he let go his 
hold, wouldn’t there be an awful splash, though?’? 
‘‘No danger of that,’’ the professor told him. ~~ 
‘They ‘Il hold like steel until the last of the colony 
is across.’ ac 
‘“But how can the monkeys forming the living an 
chain get over?’’ demanded Ballyhoo. ie 
‘That one over on this side will let go with his 
tail, when the chain will swing across. Oneortwo 


ALONG THE ORINOCO” —:15 
may get wet, but those old chaps stationing them- 
selves down below mean to look after them, you 
can depend. They attend to every particular, and 
leave nothing to chance work.’’ 

This was the critical period, and the jabbering 
and screeching increased in vigor. Finally the 
end monkey allowed his tail to slip free from the 
limb to which it had clung so tenaciously despite 
the great strain. 

There was a downward swoop, and that individ- 
ual as well as the next two in the chain fell into 
the stream, where they struggled desperately, and 
with the assistance of many helpers presently 
managed to gain dry land. 

After that the whole troop went gaily off 
through the treetops, bound for some new forag- 
ing ground, which their spies had discovered, and 
which promised to supply them with an abundance © 
of nuts. 

**Did you get it all in, Jack?’’ asked Ballyhoo, 
solicitously, ‘‘because that’s going to turn out the | 
cream piece of the whole business, mark me. Why, 
_ people will nearly take a fit to see those monkeys 
carry on like a lot of clowns and acrobats.’’ — 

Jack assured him that so far as he knew he had 
secured the entire happening, and as the light was 
especially good he believed the picture would be a 
masterpiece. 

They continued on ise way, and that night 
again camped alongside the broad and mysteri- 
ous Orinoco. Far and near the banks of this 
stream were covered with a dense vegetation. 


116. THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 
Professor Yardley daily and almost hourly ran 


across new and delightful surprises in the shape _ ( 
of fauna that had never before been mentioned by 


any of those daring souls who, taking their lives — 

in their hands, had ventured to penetrate this ei fi 

- most untrodden wilderness. il 
Once they had actually come upon the sad ruins 


of what seemed to have been a lonely outpost of 
civilization. Some white man, possibly a Portu- 


guese planter who wanted to get away from the © 
society of all his fellows, for some reason or other, 


had built him a shack, and planted oranges as well 


as bananas near a grove of Brazil nut trees. Long — 


years ago he had died, and his shack was hidden - 


by the rank growth of vegetation. Still, the trav-_ 
elers were grateful for the oranges they managed ~ 
fo find on the old and uncared-for trees. The 


clearing had gone back to a state of nature again, ~ 
and only for those orange trees no one would - 


have dreamed that a gash had once been made in 
the wilderness. 
Desirous of resting and making the most of the 


riches which the neighborhood afforded inthe way 
of prizes for the collections of both the professor ‘i 
and young Jenks, they spent several days 1 in . camp es 


here. 


Then one afternoon, while the boys were ‘ne i) 
it easy, and secretly wishing it was time for start- 
ing on the return trip, the headman of the Indians 
came hurriedly into camp. When Ballyhoo saw 
how he ran to where the professor was sitting 


working at the most recent additions to his col- 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 117 


lection of orchids, he seemed to sense some sort 
of sudden danger. And as he scrambled to his 
feet both Jack and Oscar, noticing his action, also 
_ eft their seats and stood erect. 


CHAPTER XIII 
THE FLIGHT DOWN THE ORINOCO 


‘‘TrEeRB’s something gone crooked, that’s sure,’’ 


Ballyhoo said. ‘‘Notice how the old headman ie 


waves his hands, and how excited he looks. 


There, you can see some of the others are listen- _ 


ing now to what he’s saying, and they show signs — on 


of fear by the way they turn to look at the forest. — ae 


I wonder what’s going to happen?’’ 


‘Well, the professor is beckoning to us, so we'll “ae 


soon know what’s up,’’ observed Jack, after which — A 


the three of them hurried to join the hao ey pie 


plorer. 


‘‘We must get away from here in a hurry, — 


boys,’’ said Professor Yardley, gravely, asthetrio _ 
reached his side. ‘‘The one thing that I feared 
‘most of all has happened. I had the boss guide 
and two of his men make trips about the country = 
while we stayed here, with an object in view. He 
brings me the startling news just now that there __ 
is a village of the natives not many miles away __ 
from us, just out of gunshot, I suppose, for upto __ 
the present they haven’t discovered ¢ our Pre en: 


but they know it now.’’ 
118 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 119 


“Then it is an unfriendly tribe, you mean, sir?’’ 
remarked Oscar. 

**My man tells me the most bitter enemy of the 
whites in the whole region of the Orinoco,’’ re- 
plied the other, seriously. ‘‘When our guide spied 
on the native village he found the Indians greatly 
excited, and indulging in a war dance; for these 
natives down here, just like our own Indians up 
in the Northern Hemisphere, always go through a 
lot of gymnastics calculated to make them savage 
for fight, before they start out on the warpath.’’ 

‘‘Then that means pack up and get, does u, 
sir?’’ continued Oscar. 

‘*Without a minute’s delay,’’ he was told. ‘‘I’m 
worried because Philip happens to be off some-— 
where at this time. If he delays his return to 
camp an hour or two it may cost us all dear.’’ 

Being lads of action the three of them started 
to pack their possessions. The head man had ap- 
parently been given his orders, for he was al- 
ready driving his men to work. 

Just then, greatly to the delight of all, the 
familiar figure of young Philip Jenks came in 
sight. Of course he was amazed to see them all 
working so furiously, but upon being told what it 
meant, he, too, started in. He had more or less 
to do, in order to save his priceless collection 
of rare bird skins, most of which had been rubbed 
with arsenic to preserve them, and packed in the © 

_, smallest possible space, so as to take little room 
in the boat. | 

‘‘Leave the tents,’’ said the professor, as one 


CES) hl Rae eUon Oe Be eee 
yesh led 

teed aegaag et as 

¢ tae Ley 


120 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES : 


\ 


of the boys was about to commence taking the es 


khaki canvas coverings down. 


“*Do you mean we will abandon them, sir? an 


asked Ballyhoo, astonished. 


‘Yes, we can’t take the time to get them, or _ _ 
give them room in the boats,’’’ explained the gen- 


tleman. ‘‘They are beginning to leak in heavy 
rains, and are unreliable. Besides, I imagine they 
may deceive the savages, and make them think 
we’re still in camp here. ap hour saved in that 
way may be our salvation.’ 

The bundles were hastily thrust into the boats 


'and stowed. By this time they had found the ne 
easiest possible way of packing their stuff, and 


everything had its place. 


‘‘Allready?’’ asked Professor Yardley, looking — 4 x 
keenly about him to make sure that Het Te Wee: 


have been neglected or forgotten. 


Receiving an affirmative reply from all hare Wed 


he gave the signal, and immediately the boats shot 


out into the broad stream. It was only the part ~ 
of wisdom for them to cross over to the opposite 
side, though the professor did intimate that he —__ 
believed the enemy would come to the attack partly = 


in boats, and could thus follow the fugitives. 


Eagerly the boys turned their heads to look — a 
back and across the river as long as they could 
catch a glimpse of the two brown tents. They ~~ 
hardly liked the idea of leaving those comfortable —_— 
shelters behind them, knowing how greatly the 
tents would be missed if a storm came on; but __ 
apparently the professor had a good reason for — 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 121 


doing this. If the fact of the tents being there 
gave the Indians to believe their intended prey 
still lay in the camp, the sacrifice might be well 
worth while. 

**Nothing doing so Cie commented Ballyhoo, 
after a bit, ‘‘and as we’re going to turn this fe ba 
here we’ll lose sight of the camp from now on.’ 

They saw no sign of any moving figures as long 

as they glimpsed the brown khaki tents. Then 
the bend was turned, and the boys no longer 
twisted their heads around, because there was ne 
further use. 
_ less than an hour later there came borne to 
their ears on the breeze that was blowing down- 
stream a significant series of savage cries. ‘The 
boys exchanged uneasy looks, and as usual it was 
Ballyhoo who first of all had his say. 

“‘They’ve found out that we flew the coop}? 
he remarked, with something of his usual humor, 
though perhaps this was partly assumed, for none 
of them could be feeling very well satisfied with 
the conditions just then. ‘‘Now I wonder if theyll 
want to come chasing along after us. We never 
harmed any of them, so why should they act ugly 
toward us?”’ 

**It may be,’’ said Professor Yardley, ‘‘that 
years ago some rascally Portuguese who were 
looking about this part of the country seareh- 
- ing for gold acted treacherously toward these 
people. Since that time, feeling that all whites 
must be of the same false stripe, they have 

hated the species. and the knowledge of our com- 


122 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES. 


ing has made them wild for revenge. I am afraid 
they will try to overtake us, and bring ¢ on a gen- 
eral fight.’’ 


**Let’s hope,’’ ventured J ack, who fuaned for — 


the safety of his precious films about as much as 
he did for his own life, ‘‘that they rest satisfied 


with having, as they believe, chad us out of their © 


country.’’ 
‘* Anyway,’’ added Ballyhoo, ‘‘ with night draw- 


ing on we ought to be able to give them the slip. 
Of course, if it comes to a real show-down, we’ve ~ 
got to fight. I’d hate the worst kind to shoot a 
poor Indian who doesn’t know any better than to — 
believe I mean to do him harm; but it might be 
Hobson’s choice, you know. If I got my back up ~ 
against a rock so I couldn’t run, with several In- 
dians rushing me with machetes that they meant — 


to use carving me all up, why, I’d have to shut 


my eyes and shoot—I mean that figuratively 


speaking, you understand.’’ 

He immediately commenced an investigation in 
connection with the amount of ammunition he 
chanced to have in his belt, and also in his pock- 


ets. The result seemed to give Ballyhoo more or — 


less gratification, for he nodded his head, and al- 


lowed a little grin to creep over his face, though 
that sign of amusement quickly disappeared ~ 


again. 


‘“‘Do you mean to keep on running down thé | 
river after dark comes, sir?’’ asked Oscar, when: ae 


another half hour had passed. 


“‘T have been ata: to figure on what would be oF as 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 123 


_ safest for us,’’ replied the professor, thoughtfully. 
‘*The current is swift, and there are many ugly 
snags which, if we ran upon them in the night, 
would be apt to wreck our boats. I don’t believe 
it 1s wise to try such a course, unless we are abso- 
lutely compelled to go on.’’ 

The boys were not sorry to hear him say this, 
for they had been casting uneasy glances at the 
water, and wondering what terrible thing might 
happen to them in case of a spill. What with al- 
ligators, electric eels, savage fish that would at- 
tack them by scores and hundreds, as well as per- 


~ haps other dangers just as real, the possibility of 


being thrown into the water was anything but 
cheerful. | 

*“here’s what looks like a good camp. ground, 
sir!’? called out Jack just then, and as it also 
seemed to appeal to the professor the order was 
given to land. 

Luckily there was a thick growth of rushes 
growing along the shore, in which the boats could 
easily be concealed. 

**Only make one track going in,’’ called out the 
professor; and guessing what his object must be 
the boys saw to it that the Indians handling the 
paddles so dextrously fell in single line. 

Then as they were in shallow water several of 
the latter, carrying out orders given by the sagac- 
ious headman, jumped overboard, and going back 
along their late course drew the reeds together 
again. Thus all trace of their having forced a 
passage through these was concealed. 


‘ Pye std b 
124. THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


Ballyhoo watched this being done with consid- 
erable interest, as in fact all of them did, not an- — 
ticipating meeting with such a plain display of — 
woodcraft down in a South American country. | 

‘*It only goes to show,’’ Ballyhoo told Jack, on — 
drawing his attention to what was going on, ‘‘how > 
these savage people, no matter whether you find 
them in North America, Darkest Africa, the wilds 
of Australia, or right here along the wonderful — 
old Orinoco, all possess the same sense of strategy 
that they get from the fox and the hyena and the ~ 
jaguar—yes, and the kangaroo too, mebbe, for all 
I know.’’ | 

One thing all of them understood, which was  — 
that there would be no cheery camp-fire lighted = 
that night. Until they had managed to get clear 
of the country looked upon as their hunting ~ 
ground by this particular tribe of Indians it ~ 
would be a most unwise thing to show a beacon — 
caleulated to draw attention to their resting = 
place. : 

They lay around there taking what comfort they 
could. Food had been distributed, so that no one 


poe a eee a 
= A : —— = Poly 7 ee ee 
D > = - ee ee 

? : = - = ae Bt a 
Nee pe eg Saw Se ee a ge | Se a 
1 ae ee a ee a ae - 


ee. ag ee ee 
be’ alee re Oe ee. 


as a sweet morsel. RS 
As the three boys, together with Philip Jenks wee 
and the man of science, had purposely “‘foregath- Ea Mem, 


went hungry. Of course this consisted for the q 
most part of stale crackers, cheese, and some dried = a 
meat which Ballyhoo loved to call’ ‘‘pemmican’? = 
just because he knew that the jerked venison of = 
the Wild West often went under that name, and } 
somehow he liked to roll the word over his alt sla ee : 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 125 


ered’’ together, they were able to talk as they 
pleased, always remembering to modulate their 
voices so that their tones were hardly more than 
‘whispers. 

**What do you think of our chances for getting » 
through without being discovered, sir?’’ Jack was 
asking. 

‘‘They are about fifty-fifty, I should say,’’ came 
the far from reassuring reply. ‘‘We have taken 
all the precautions possible, but still in spite of 
everything we may be found out. These Indians 
are very crafty, and one of them may have seen 
- us coming along the river. But we’ll hope for the 
best, even while preparing for the worst.’’ 

‘*And if we’re discovered, do we shoot to fetch 
down our game?’’ Ballyhoo demanded, trying to 

keep his voice firm, for he did not fancy having 
the others know that the prospect of such a thing 
appalled him. 

‘“Only as a very last resort would I sanction 
anything like that,’’ said Professor Yardley. ‘‘I 
have a little plan that I mean to put into practice. 
It may work splendidly, and then again it is apt to 
prove an arrant failure, when we would be com- © 
pelled to depend on what execution we could do 
with our firearms, in order to insure our safety.’’ 

‘*Would our men stand by us, do you think, 
sir?’’ asked Oscar, softly. 

*<Yes, I believe they would, for they seem to be 
fairly decent fellows,’’ replied the gentleman, con- 
fidently: ‘‘I have told the headman to inform them 
that for the balance of the trip their wages will 


126 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


be doubled. That was a good idea of yours, Os- 
car, and your generosity may pay us well.’’ 
‘*But Ee tell us about this little trick you 
say you’ve got up your sleeve, Professor Yard- 
ley?’’ asked Ballyhoo, showing a decided interest. 


CHAPTER XIV 
LYING IN AMBUSH 


- Tury heard Professor Yardley laughing softly 
to himself, as though amused over something. 
Consequently none of the boys felt very much sur- 
_ prised to hear him say: 

‘First of all I ought to tell you that long ago, 
when I was rather young, I had quite another 
hobby besides natural history, and the study of 
plant life in some of the most inaccessible regions 
of the earth. I don’t suppose any of you could 
give a coherent guess as to the direction my youth- 
ful aspirations took, so I’ll have to tell you that I 
envied the matchless Houdini his stage magic, 
In fact I was quite resolved to make a wizard of 
myself, and do wonderful stunts calculated to mys- 
tify an audience.’’ 

He laughed again, as though even the recollec- 
tion amused him. 

**It is surprising how these ambitions of boy- 
hood days follow us in later years, as if the ghost 
of the past refuses to down. And sometimes they 
can be put to a practical use, as I intend this one 

127 


128 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES - 


shall. You see I have. even: gone so nee 


as to carry around with me a certain little box — : 


ef marvels, Small enough thoygh it is to al- 
most go in my vest pocket, nevertheless it hele 
mighty forces. 


‘*Being a humane man, and much averse to tak 


ing human life, even that of a savage, I made up 
my mind that there were other ways besides vio- 


lence through which a shrewd man might awe a | | 


riotous mob of ignorant natives. In other ein 
I aimed in ne of necessity to play upon their 
superstition. ’’ 

‘‘T can see what you are aiming at, sir,’’ des! 
elared Oscar, with emphasis, ‘‘and I must say it 
sounds good tome. All savage people are full of - 


superstition. I’ve often read how the Indians are ; ‘ 


believers in spirits from the other world; and that — 
they think their medicine men talk with a manitou 
when they go through their mummeries.’’ 

‘<You hit the nail squarely on the head when you 


say that, Oscar,’’ the professor told him. “phere? | 


never was a tribe of blacks or Indians on the face ao 


of the globe but that they believed in their fetish, — 7 


and feared some unknown power that they could — 4 


not see. Well, I’ve got a little scheme arranged 
by means of which I hope to give these Indians the — 
fright of their lives, if they threaten to come down 
on us.’’ 

‘*‘T hope, though, sir,’’ ventured J ack, “that it 
isn’t so terrible it will scare our own men out of — 


their seven senses. If they took to their heels and Gt 


left us in the lurch we’d be in a bad Biekes ey 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 129 


‘‘T’m meaning to explain it all to the headman, 
and have him tell the rest,’’ the professor an- 
nounced. ‘‘And as there’s no telling just how 
much time I’ll have to get ready in, perhaps I’d 
better be starting now.”’ 

He left them, and went toward the boats, for 
most of the cargoes had been allowed to remain 
just as they were compactly stowed away. This 
was done purposely so as to be in condition for a 
sudden departure, should any necessity for such 
a hurried flitting arise. 

‘*That sounds as if we might be treated to some- 
thing along the line of comedy,’’ Jack was saying, 
after he and the four others had been left alone. 
**Who’d ever dream that a man as serious as the 
professor could have a vein of humor deep 
down in his heart? After all there’s a heap of 
truth in the old saying that a man is only a grown- ° 
up child, and every once in a while he betrays it 
in spite of all the polish, learning and culture have 
given jnim,’’ 
> **T wonder what he’s going to do?’’ speculated 

_Ballyhoo, who couldn’t make even a guess to save 
him. 

**You’ll have to wait till he comes back, and 
then we’ll all know,’’ Oscar told the impatient one, 
though for that matter he was almost as anxious 
himself as Ballyhoo could be to hear the de- 
tails. 

Some little time elapsed. Possibly the profes- 
sor found it more or less difficult to discover just 


what he was looking for, since he dared not strike 
es 9—A.®. 


ea PER arena. at dues Tas Pn ¥ 


130 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES — 


alight. He did have a small pocket electrie torch, — 
which he seldom used, since he wished to conserve 

the precious battery; and they finally began to — 
catch fugitive gleams from this light moving in 


zigzag lines, as he hunted through the cargo in one 
of the guarded hoats. 


Then presently they knew he was coming face ao 
It was too dark there under the trees to tell what — 
manner of bundle the savant might be carrying; — 
though evidently from the character of his prom- — 
ise 1¢ could not be along the line of his studies i in 


plant lore. 


‘Strange as it happens, there are exactly four _ 
of them in all, one apiece for you, boys,’’ he told — 


them. ‘‘As for me, I expect to have my hands © 


fully occupied with other matters about the time : 


I'll call on you to break loose.”’ 


Ballyhoo gave evidence of his astonishment : 


when his fingers closed upon the object the gentle- 


man had placed in his keeping. 


‘‘Why, as sure as shooting it feels just ike one 


of those long -tin horns we use on Hallowe’en 


night; and at our football games, so as to make — 


the worst lot of noise going T ? was what he ex- — 


claimed. 


“You’ve guessed it, Ballyhoo!’’ chuckled the 


professor, who seemed to be enjoying the affair as 
much as though he were renewing his youth. — 


‘‘They are tin horns, and capable of emitting the 


most discordant sounds that ever grated on the © 
human tympanum. I expect you every one to blow ~ 
for all you are worth when I say the word. If 


ALONG THE ORINOCO | Poh 


the racket you can put up isn’t enough to chill the 
fighting blood in the veins of any Orinoco Indian 
that ever lived, I’m greatly mistaken. But all this 
noise is only intended to be an accompaniment; 
- there is something more than that I’m planning 
to produce.”’’ 

‘“The plot thickens,’’ was all Ballyhoo whis- 
pered to himself; and it could be easily sur- 
mised that he was greatly pleased with the 
idea. 

**Tn nearly all cases,’’ continued the professor, 
‘where the ignorance and superstition of natives 
is intended to be worked upon,-red fire, a handful 
of common fireworks, and possibly some phosphor- 
escent paint is calculated to do the job. I have 
all of them handy. They have served my purpose 
more than once in the past, and I hope will not. 
failusnow.” — 

**Please tell us just what we are to do, then, 
sir,’’ urged Jack, wondering if it could be at all 
possible to make any sort of picture of the show, 
and then regretfully deciding that such a thing 
Was against reason, much as he would have liked 
to try it. 

Accordingly the gentleman went into particu- 
Jars, and it could be seen from his precise way of 
- explaining even the minutest details how he had 
had'this queer scheme mapped out in his mind long 
before. Doubtless its contemplation, to be used in 
case of dire necessity, may have caused him no end 
of secret amusement, recalling as it did those early 
days in his own life, when he used to exert his 


132 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES - 


powers as a stage magician to playfully hood- — 
wink a gaping audience. | ‘: 

First of all the Indian attendants were'to be 
kept out of sight, as well as all signs calculated — 
to betray the fact that the white invaders were — 
hiding at that spot. 

Then each of the boys was supplied with a hori 
and instructed how to use it on ene from the — 
professor. 

‘When the time is ripe we’ll give these chae 
the scare of their lives, that’s dead sure,’’ Baliy- — 
hoo boasted, as he put his horn to his mouth to see 
how it felt. : 

‘‘Be careful, Ballyhoo!’’ warned Jack, fearful 
lest the other might let out a trial blare that would 
‘take the edge’’ off the entertainment. ‘‘Don’t 
give even a peep ahead of time. It might spoil 
the game, you know.’’ 

‘‘Don’t be afraid, Jack, I didn’t mean to i my 
bugle, but just wanted to find if it fitted my lips. — 
Everything seems O.K. as far as I can see. Now 
let the Philistines come along, if they’re hanker- 
ing for a shock, that’s all.”’ | 

After that they fell silent for a time. It was 
really no time for talking unless an actual neces- 
sity arose. But lying there behind that thick 
screen of bushes the three boys and Philip Jenks 
continued to keep their ears busy listening for 
some sign of the approach of the enemy, and of 
course all the while hoping the peril might pass 
them by. : 

Professor Yardley had crept away, doubtless to — 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 133 


give the last orders to his headman, who in turn 
would communicate it to the carriers, so that they 
might nof fall into a panic and flee madly when 
things reached the boiling state. 


CHAPTER XY; 
THE SERPENTS IN THE SKY 


‘‘Listen to the night birds calling all around - 
us,’’ whispered Ballyhoo, in the ear of Oscar, some 
time afterwards. 

‘“Those are not birds,’’ came the thrilling reply 
in the lowest of tones, with Oscar’s lips close to — 
his ear. ‘*They are signals made by some of these 
Indians. They must suspect that we’re around 
this region, and right now they are closing § in on 
us from several sides.’’ “f 

‘*¥’m sure I heard a sound out on the river just 
then,’’ Jack added, also cautiously, ‘‘that may — 
have been a paddle striking the side of a dugout 
boat. So they’re coming down on us by water as — 
well!’ 2 

Ballyhoo only let his breath pass. between his — 


lips in a sibilant hiss, but it was like the escape 


valve that allows steam to go forth when the 
boiler is overcharged. er 


The minutes passed, every one heavy with sus- ie 


pense. Those queer bird-like calls continued to 
rise, now here, again there, as though each hada | 
134 


ALONG THE ORINOCO - 4365 


peculiar significance. Undoubtedly these untu- 
tored savages of the Orinoco wilds had a method 
of communication which was carried on by these 
natural sounds. So well imitated were the birds 
of the forest that many who considered them- 
selves fair woodsmen might have been deceived; 
though they may have come to the conclusion that 
the owls and night hawks, as well as other species 
of nocturnal birds, were unusually noisy on that 
particular occasion. 

*‘There’re getting closer all the time,’’ mut- 
tered the uneasy Ballyhoo. ‘‘I hope now the pro- 
fessor won’t leave the opening chorus go too 
~ long.”? 

*‘Be ready!’’ warned Oscar, who had his tin 
horn close to his lips, and was in a condition to 
draw in a long, full breath at a second’s 
notice. 

Then all at once there sprang into existence a 
dazzling red light that shot a terrifying glow 
around the entire vicinity. That was the signal 
they had been expecting for some time. Ballyhoo 
thought it was long past overdue, since he had been 
burning with zeal to commence blowing his horn 
for some time now. 

Doubtless these boys had had more or less ex- 
- perience on election nights and similar occasions. 
They may also have belonged to the strong-lunged 
squad to whom the duty of creating a noise is 
given by the cheer captain at the annual football 

_ School games. At any rate they quickly proved 
_ that they were past masters in the art of getting 


136 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


all the dismal sounds out of tin contraptions that 
could ever be imagined. 


When that awful chorus broke forth all other — 


noises of the night stopped short. In fact every — 
animal or bird within half a mile of that spot must 
have quaked with sudden fear, and either de- 
parted to safer regions or else cowered down on 
its perch or in its lair. 

Other things were happening at the same time, 
for the professor was a busy man. From the 
shelter of the bushes that screened him he must 
have put a match to one of those pieces of fire- 
works of which he had spoken, for there was a 
sudden roaring sound, a scattering of sparks, and 
then straight up into the air rosea fiery monster 
that vaulted toward the distant heavens. ite 

How the eyes of those terrified savages must 
have followed the course of that rocket as it eut— 
its fiery way aloft, made a graceful curve when it — 
attained the limit of its flight, and then burst forth — 
amass of magnificent red and blue balls, each of 
which commenced to zigzag downward as though 
held by a parachute, which was possibly the 
case. 

Nothing that the human mind could conceive 
would be more apt to frighten an ignorant Indian 
than such an exhibition of supreme power. ‘To his 
untutored mind this must be the incarnation of 
spiritual power; the Great Manitou was speaking 
through all this horrible din and these amazing 
flashing lights. bs 

Oscar wondered how it would succeed, but he 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 137 


did not have to bother his mind for any great 
length of time. Already they could hear the pat- 
ter of hastily retreating footsteps. The Indians 
had commenced to run, and their departure lacked 
every element of caution that may have marked 
their secret coming. 

The flight soon became a panic. They could be 
heard dashing madly along, and it-might be set 
down as certain that once this eagerness to escape 
seized upon their hearts nothing would be allowed 
to stand in the way of their going. Many crashed 
into trees that were unseen in the general scram- 
ble. In the direction of the river the boys also 
heard much loud splashing, which seemed to indi- 
cate that those nearest the water had in their 
fright plunged recklessly in. 

Cries and screams coming from this quarter 
soon afterwards told that some of these adven- 
turous souls had been attacked by alligators, — 
or those savage fish which Ballyhoo held in such 
awe. 

Taken altogether it was a riot of noise and con- 
fusion such as the three Motion Picture Comrades 
had never experienced before. They were fully 
aroused, and felt their hearts pounding against 
their ribs with the excitement; but at the time 
none of them knew whether they were more in- 
clined to be filled with silent laughter on account 
- of the ludicrous nature of the affair, or feel com- 
passion for those unfortunates who were having 
such a rough time of it in the river. 

By degrees, however, all this noise was dying ~ 


1388 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES. 


out. The boys themselves had stopped blowing 
their horns, partly because their breath was well 
nigh exhausted through persistent efforts for such 
a long space of time. The red fire too was dying 
out, though the professor had sent up another 
rocket, this time spitting forth a sheaf of writhing 
yellow serpents that must have added to the fears _ 
of the fleeing wretches, 
Gradually the sounds ceased. Those in the water — 
had perhaps been able to scramble ashore—at least 
the boys hoped so; while the runners on land had ~ 
managed to get to some distance, where they could 
come together again, and depart, to carry the fear- 
ful news back to their village. 3 
It was certain that the night would be free 
from all further alarms. Nothing on earth could 
tempt any of those copper-colored natives to ap- 


proach that spot again; and in all likelihood it ~ 


would be shunned for many moons as a place of 
evil reputation. ‘ 

‘“Well, it’s all over,’’ said Ballyhoo, with some- — 
thing bordering on a sigh, as if he had actually 
enjoyed the queer entertainment, tinged with dan- 
ger though it may have been. | 

‘*1’m going to ask the professor to let me keep 
this horn to remember it by,’’ was what Jack 
remarked. ‘‘Oh! what a dandy picture this would 
have made, and how sorry I am it couldn’t be 
taken. It does seem to me as if some of the finest 
chances for stunning effects are lost by their hap- 
pening in the night time.’’ 

Ballyhoo had something else on his mind, and 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 139 


as usual he considered it his duty to communicate 
the same to his companions. 

**Say, d’ye know I never dreamed when I used 

to hear our preacher read how those old worthies 
went round and round a hundred times, blowing 
their rams’ horns, ’till the noise made the walls 
of Jericho fall down, that the time’d come when 
I’d be doing something like that myself. It’s 
a bully good horn, too, and I’d like to keep it, 
Same as you, Jack. Say a good word for me 
to the professor, please, when you hold him up 
for yours.”’ 
_ **What’s all this about?’’ asked a voice, and 
then the four were joined by the man of science. 
**T hope you are not picking flaws in the little 
entertainment I got up in such a hurry, to start 
those poor wretches back home, where their wives 
were waiting for them? What did you think of 
it, boys?’’ 

If what they told him was any criterion by 
which their opinion might be gauged, the profes- 
sor had reason for being satisfied. He seemed to 
be almost as pleased as any of the boys, for every 
now and then he would laugh softly to himself 
when mention was made of some partieular fea- 
ture in the mad flight of the enemy. 

**One thing certain,’’ he finally remarked, seri- 
ously, ‘‘while the whole affair was of a nature to 
hardly reflect credit on a man of my supposed 
scientific attainments, at least it accomplished 
what it was intended for. And certainly it was 
much more humane to give those poor Indians a 


140 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


little fright than to have opened on them with our 
murderous guns, and maimed many of them, per- 
haps killed others. I know I shall sleep easier 
tonight on account of my choice.’’ 


CHAPTER XVI 
FLYING BEFORE THE STORM 


Ir turned out that none of their native carriers 
had fled as a result of seeing those strange things, 
which however must have impressed them deeply. 
Nevertheless, as it afterwards proved, the head- 
man himself had found it difficult to restrain some 
of the more frightened among them. Doubtless 
they had buried their heads in the grass so as to 
shut out the terrible vision of that serpent speed- 
ing toward the heavens, to speak in thunder tones 
when on high, and scatter those fiery darts broad- 
cast. 

But it was all over now, and gradually they 
could gain the mastery over their fears, so a . 
sleep might be wooed. 

Nothing else happened during that never-to-be- 
forgotten night. All of them were glad to see the 
coming of dawn, when the voyage down the Ori- 
noco was to be resumed after breakfast. 

Since there was no longer the least danger from 
- savages, Ballyhoo rejoiced in the fact that they 
could have something ‘‘decent’’ to eat, as well as 
a cup of fragrant Java. 

141 


142 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES __ 


‘‘T miss my coffee more than anything else,’’ he 
complained. ‘‘Seems like the day hasn’t been 
started right when I have to go without one cup 
of the berry juice.’’ Ss 

‘*Shows what a slave to drink you’re getting — 
to be,’’ laughed Oscar. ‘‘ Better break away from 
such bad habits before it’s too late, Ballyhoo.’’ 

‘Oh! I am—gradually,’’ smirked the other; 
‘‘vyou remember I didn’t have a drop last night, — 
don’t you?’’ ma 

All the same every one of them enjoyed a hot 
breakfast, being blessed with good appetites. 
Then the boats were launched, and loaded as usual. ~ 
While all of them were of the opinion that they - 
would see nothing further of the hostile na- 
tives, still common discretion urged that they first 
of all cross to the other side of the wide river, 
and continue down near the further shore. — | 

‘*We happen to know that their village is on © 
this side of the stream,’’ said the professor, while — 
they talked the matter over at breakfast; ‘‘and the 
chances are none of that tribe can be found across 
the Orimoco. These various tribes are as a rule 
at war with one another, and consequently never — 
roam far away from certain regions supposed to 
be their particular hunting grounds. When they 
feel fiercely disposed, and long to engage in war, - 
all they have to do is to invade the area belonging 
to some rival crowd, when the poisoned arrows 
and darts fly.’’ 

Once they started the men at the oars worked 
the boats across the stream. Naturally the boys 


’ 
ALONG THE ORINOCO — 143 


cast a few anxious glances back toward the shore 
they were just leaving. It looked very forbid- 
ding, with its heavy vegetation that overhung the 
water, and might for all they knew shelter some 
enemies bolder than their fellows. 

Ballyhoo entertained a peculiar aversion for 
those long blowguns, with which he had watched 
that Indian bring down a bird from the top of a 
lofty tree. -And if, as he had been told, they 
poisoned the tips of such darts as were to be used 
in warfare with fellow humans, it was not very 
pleasant to contemplate being struck by such a 
deadly missile. 

He breathed more easily when he figured that 
the boats had finally reached such a distance from 
the hostile shore that a successful shot with a 
_ blowgun would be out of the question. | 

** And,’’ he admitted privately to himself, under 
his breath, ‘‘I’d be even happier if the old river 
was about five miles wide instead of a measly 
half.’’ : 

Once across they found that the conditions there 
did not differ to any appreciable extent from what 
they had been accustomed to. Pretty much the 
same class of thick tropical vegetation covered 
the shores, while trees in places overhung the 
water, in the branches of which the quick eye of 
the experienced plant hunter often detected mag- 
nificent specimens of orchids; while on his part 
Phil Jenks several times found opportunities for 
using his light shotgun in order to secure a rare 
bird he coveted. 


> de 


144 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


The day proved to be an unusually scorching 
one. Under the shade afforded by the flimsy can- 
vas covers which were raised to partly protect 
them from the cruel burning heat of the sun the 
boys lay, and fairly panted as noon arrived. It 
was so unmercifully hot that even the professor, 
much as he wished to get out of this region now 
that his object had been attained, felt that they 
would be taking unnecessary chances if they tried — 
to keep on. ; 

‘*We’ll go ashore, and spend a couple of hours 
resting,’’ he announced, presently, as he saw Bal- 
lyhoo mopping his face and neck with his once 
red bandanna. | 

‘*Bully for that!’’ exclaimed that worthy, grin- 
ning; ‘‘it isn’t a very long time to knock around, — 
of course, but then I’ve always been told half a — 
loaf is better than no bread. Thank you kindly, 
Professor, for remembering that we might melt 
away if we kept on out in this glare.’’ : 

‘Along about two o’clock,’’ continued the other, 
‘‘there’s a likelihood of some relief, for I notice . 
clouds coming up over yonder.”’ . 

‘“‘They look pretty black in the bargain,’’ ob- — 
served Jack. | 

‘‘We’re just as likely to get a big storm after 
such a stunning hot day,’? prophesied Ballyhoo, — 
also looking carefully toward the horizon, where 
the bank of clouds could be plainly seen. 

There was no breeze stirring, or so faint a 
breath of air that it counted for nothing, so that 
even when they found themselves under the shade — 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 145 


_of the trees it did not ieee so very comfortable, 
after all. 

- While they munched some lunch, and tried to 
take things as easy as possible, of course they 
{ exchanged opinions on many subjects. 

_ **T hope now, Jack,’’ Ballyhoo at one time re- 
marked, as though more or less concerned over 
_the matter, ‘‘you’ve got that case of films wrapped 
up so it’ll be waterproof in case a ecloudburst . 
strikes us. I’d hate the worst kind to have 
anything happen now to ruin all your hard 
_ work.’’ 

-  **You can make your mind easy on that score,’’ 
he was told. ‘‘I’m not one of those shiftless fel- 
_ lows who wait until the horse is stolen before they 
- lock the barn door. That box is said to be air and 
- moisture proof in itself. I had it made according 
_ to my own specifications, and have given it a good 
"test long ago. ‘Then, besides, I keep it well 
" wrapped in oilskins. It could float in a boat half 
filled with water, and in no way injure the con- 
 tents.’’ 

 **Glad to hear that,’’ laughed Ballyhoo, who 
_ possibly knew the facts before, but just wanted 
to get a *‘rise’’ out of Jack. 

_ When they once more entered the boats: and 
_ started on down the river the sun at times hid his 
_ seorching face behind masses of clouds. As yet, 

however, they could detect no 0 positive signs of the 
_ storm that brooded. : 
7 only hope it holds off a couple of hours or 
80,”’ the professor called out after Oscar had 


146 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


drawn attention to the fact that the clouds were 
growing denser far down toward the horizon. “‘I 
say that because I’ve got a nice place picked out 
for our night camp, and one particularly adapted 
to a stormy period.”’ 

He would not enter into particulars, contenting 
himself with saying they would find out all about 
it sooner or later, if fortunate enough to get far 
enough along before compelled to land, either | 
through the breaking of the storm or the gathering 
of darkness. 

Knowing that the man of science was great on 
‘‘nreparedness,’’ Oscar could easily understand - 
that he must have taken particular notice of the 
lay of the land on this side of the river while they 
were ascending; and made a mental note of cer- 
tain characteristics that might serve travelers well 
in an emergency. ~ : 

Ballyhoo, who was in the same boat with Jack 
at the time, confided some more of his griefs to 
the other. 

‘‘Here’s where we’re going to miss those khaki 
tents the worst kind, I’m afraid,’’ he went on to 
say, disconsolately. ‘‘It’s true they were getting 
pretty rotten, and not much so far as looks went, 
being faded and old; but any port in a storm; and — 
lying under one of those canvas shelters would be 
a heap better than sticking it out in the open, with 
a gale whooping things up, and the rain 1 coming 
down like pitchforks.’’ 

‘‘Oh! I don’t know about that,’’ J ack replied. 
‘*TIn such a storm I’m afraid our tents would have — 


OS er ial | 


Mae b2 see 
i OE ee 


Me 


es 0 else broken away, ee gone ae: 


af a ~ At times he started Hee gave, 7 
toa gasp as some unusiially ae as 


Sy yt ee Oe en ote en cae tinw ae 


148 THE MOTION PICTURE oo 


trying at the same time to appear cool and col- 
lected, as if his nerves were not all on edge with 
apprehensions. 

‘“The professor is getting anxious too,’’ said 
Jack. ‘‘He is looking closely at the shore right 
along now, and I only hope he begins to recognize 
that likely place for a camp he mentioned.”*” 

‘Whew! I hope it’s going to turn out to be a 
cyclone cave,’’ Ballyhoo admitted, after a fero- 
cious burst of thunder that made the very atmos- 
phere seem to quiver, had gradually died away in 
short rumbles. 

Just then the professor was heard calling. __ 

‘‘Here’s the place I was heading for, boys!’’ he 
told them; ‘‘make straight in, and run the boats 
tp on that little beach, which looks as if it had 
been formed especially for landing.”’ : 

Joyfully they obeyed when the order had heen’ 
given by the headman to. the native rowers; and | 
three minutes afterwards the boys leaped ashore, 
though with cramped limbs, on account of sitting ” 
for several hours. 


a 
. 


CHAPTER XVII 
WHAT TO DO IN AN EMERGENCY 


*‘Ger a hustle on, boys!’’ called Ballyhoo, as 
he bent over to seize upon his gun, wrapped in a 
waterproof case, and then his clothes-bag after- 
wards. 

There seemed need of considerable haste, be- 
cause the breaking out of the storm could not be 
long delayed. Jack had snatched up his camera, 
while Oscar looked after the box containing the 
films, both most precious packages in their esti- 
mation. 

Meanwhile Philip Jenks was thrusting his bun- 
dles of carefully preserved bird skins into the 
charge of some of the Indian attendants, who, 
drilled by the headman, knew just what was ex- 
pected of them at such a landing time. 

They started up the shore, following after the 
tall figure of the professor, who, bending forward 
as he advanced, seemed to be anxiously looking 
ahead of him. Then those still down on the beach 
heard his ery of delight. 

<¢ All right, boys; we’ve struck the spot I had in 

149 


ae} 


wer 


150. THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


mind. Fetch your stuff up in a hurry, for you'll 
not have any too much time.’’ 

Accordingly they commenced climbing the bank. 
Once up there they soon located the shelter which 
Professor Yardley had had im mind when direct- 
ing their flight down the river. . 

A series of strange formations of rock ran 
along, just forty feet or so back of the elevated 
shore line. These must have struck the eye of 
the man of science as worthy of notice when passed 
in the daytime. He had also judged that as they 
formed a positive shelf, with plenty of room un- 
derneath, the cavities would make ideal shelters 
from a storm. And it was odd to find how useful 
this knowledge came in just when they were 
greatly in need of some cover for their per- 
sons and possessions, with’ a storm about to 
break. 

Crawling underneath the shelving r60u they 
soon deposited their burdens where by no possi- 
bility could any rain reach them, even though 
driven before a harsh wind. 

Some of the men came staggering up bearing 
heavy loads on their heads. Others, under the 
direction of the headman, who understood what 
damage such a gale might do to unprotected boats, 
were lifting the several heavy craft, and placing 
them safely far-up on the bank, also taking care 
that the should not lie broadside on to the 
river. 

All these necessary preparations were being car- | 
ried out swiftly, and with great care. None tog 


ri: 


ALONG THE ORINOCO ; 151 


soon were they concluded, for hardly had the last 
boat been laid among the trees and bushes than a 
new sound came across the river to their ears. 
* ‘*Yisten to the wind, will you?’’ called out Bal- 
Tyhoo, for it was necessary to raise one’s voice 
now in order to be heard, because the thunder 
seemed almost constant, and other noises began 
to join in to make things ‘‘merry.’’ 3 

**1’m glad for one,’’ said Jack, ‘‘that we’re not 
out there in the middle of the river right 
now.’’ 

‘*Why, we’d founder, as sure as anything,’’ Bal- 
lyhoo affirmed. ‘‘But owing to the little turn of 
this roeky shelf here I don’t believe we’ll get a 
great deal of the wind in this place. Whee! there 
it strikes along the other shore. Now it’s racing 
across like wildfire. Hold your breath, boys, and 
listen to that row, will you?’’ 

Almost before he ceased speaking there was a 
wild swoop, and they heard a tree crash down 
not far away, before the first violence of the 
gale. 

From that time on speaking was almost impos- 
‘sible. All they could do was to cower there, and 
shield themselves the best way possible with their 
blankets; for as usually happens no sooner had 
the rain commenced to descend in a perfect deluge 
than the atmosphere quickly became chilly. 

Ballyhoo could not help staring out, as though 
the wild spectacle possessed a peculiar fascina- 
tion for him, so that he could not tear his eyes 
‘away. The lightning was really magnificent and 


152 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES: 


appalling. It came in many different types, from 
the zigzag blaze that seemed to dart this way and > 
that before losing itself near the earth to a broad 
and terrible arrow that dropped directly down 
from the overhanging clouds, and sought some 
monarch of the forest, to shatter the same into 
fragments. | 
And such rain none of them had ever seen fall. 
It blotted out everything on the river, and even 
closer by; in fact, save for the intermittent flashes 
of lightning they could not see any object. Roar- 
ing torrents rushed past on every side, all head- 
ing toward the nearby river. Ballyhoo did not 
wonder that the Orinoco needed a dozen mouths, 
more or less, to let such floods seek an outlet to 
the sea, if rainfalls like this were of frequent oc- 
currence along the extensive watershed it 
drained. : 
The war of the elements kept up for a long time. ~ 
until it seemed as though they must become ex-— 
hausted through their own savage violence. ‘Then 
gradually the thunder lost some of its ear-splitting 
vigor, and the lightning came less frequently. — 
Encouraged by these signs, the boys began to 
pluck up hope, and believe the terrible gale was. 
wearing out. 2 
They also realized that they would have to on 
in that night under the shelter of the rocky ledge, 
because everywhere else the earth must prove too” 
wet for any comfort. This did not promise a com- 
fortable time, because the ground was hard, but 
even Ballyhoo made no sina ute He oy ihe? 


_. 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 1538 
he was well off, and that rocky shelf stood in the 
light of a good friend in his estimation. 

The thunder was hardly more than a loud growl 
finally; though an occasional outburst would come 
once in @ while, just to remind them of what they 
had missed. So passed another strange ex- 
_ perience that they were not likely to soon 
forget. 

The Indians had started a little blaze under the 
-rocks. They were not as comfortably clad as the 
whites, and the ponchos they owned had to serve 
as cloaks by day and blankets by night, so they 
could not be very heavy. The poor fellows had 
been shivering with the cold for some little time 
before they summoned energy enough to ap- 
ply at match to the dry stuff some of them 
had made out to fetch along before the rain began 
to fall. 

And that fiickering little blaze continued to rise 
_ and fall during the whole of the night. Somehow 
it seemed a bit of comfort, for Ballyhoo at least, 
_ because everything looked so dark and forbidding 
outside, the clouds continuing to dominate the 
heavens long after the storm had passed out of 
hearing. 

_ Again all of them were glad when morning 

broke. It seemed as though this might he getting 
to be a regular thing, with them; at least Bally- 
hoo considered that it was, in his particular case. 
Since that night when he sat between two camp 
fires and watched for the coming of jaguars, ana- 
condas, alligators, and all sorts of other ‘‘var- 


» gy 


3 eon a 
154 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


mints’’ which had their domain in the forest and 
swamps of the Orinoco country, the boy believed” 
he had hardly passed a single peaceful night. 

All of them felt pretty stiff and sore when they 
‘began to crawl forth from under the rocky ledge; 
but there was some satisfaction when they con-~ 
templated the fact of possessing dry clothes, and 
that their packages too had escaped being soaked 
in that tropical downpour. 

It was no easy task to find suitable wood for 
a cooking fire, but then Ballyhoo had learned — 
how to cut into stumps, and secure the heart, 
which would be found perfectly dry, even 
after a week of rain; and this he now proceeded 
to do. 

‘* At one time, Ballyhoo,’’ pee. Jack, while 
they were getting breakfast ready, “‘‘you spoke 
~ of our being able to find some sort of shelter 
under one of these big trees, if it came to the 
worst; you remember that, don’t you? Well, just 
take a look over there, and say what you think 
about that now.”’ 

Ballyhoo did look and gave a startled — 
cry. 

‘‘Why!’’ he exclaimed, ‘‘lightning must have — 
struck that monster tree, and shattered it all the 
way down. Only the wreck is left, a broken 
stump thirty feet high, and even that split nearly — 
in two. I remember when that must Have hap- — 
pened, for the flash nearly made me blind, and — 
the report was so awful the rocks trembled under 
me. Yes, I’m mighty glad now I didn’t have to 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 155 


| carry out my plan. It would have been a crazy 


one, I own up.”’ 

**Anywhere but under a big tree in a thunder 
storm,’’ continued Jack, feeling that just then 
was the right time to impress such a valuable bit 
_ of advice on the rash comrade, when such a splen- 
did object lesson could be shown in the matter of 
the riven forest monarch. ‘‘I’d throw myself 
flat in a field, and take the ducking every time, 
rather than do that, or seek shelter in a hay barn. 
A hedge, or a rock that tilts over are all right, for 
they never attract the lightning.’’ 

**Oh! Ill be sure to remember, Jack,’’ the other 
promised; but it was always a question whether 
one so forgetful as Ballyhoo could keep anything 
in mind. 

As the boats had been carefully turned upside 
down they had not been lifted and carried away 
by the hurricane force of the wind. Consequently 
they were in good condition for launching,-and 
this duty was attended to by the headman and 
his numerous assistants, after which the cargoes 
were again stowed away, in the bows for the most 
part. . 

**T have just been figuring it out, boys,’’ an- 
nounced the professor over his third cup of 
strong coffee, of which he was excessively fond; 
‘and I believe, if all goes well, we should some 
time this afternoon arrive at the point where we 


first struek the Orinoeo.’’ 


_ **Do we return the same way as we came, sir?’’ 
_ asked Jack. 


156 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES — 


‘‘That, too, I have been considering,’’ the gentle- 
man explained, ‘‘and on the whole decided it would 
be better to retrace our course. We know what | 


to expect on that stream, whereas if we continue 


to move down the Orinoco there may be hazards 


without number that will confront us. And see- 


ing that three among our party are particularly 
anxious to get back to civilization without any sort - 
of a spill, it seems to me we would show good 


sense by repeating.’’ 


In fact there was not a single dissenting vote . 


east, even the usually adventurous Ballyhoo hav- 
ing apparently seen enough trouble for some time 
to come. 


That was one of the finest days they saw on the 
entire cruise. It seemed as though the great 
storm must have cleared the air, for that sicken- 


ing heat was entirely missing now, and in its place — 


they had a fine bracing breeze that kept up the — 


entire day. 


Just as the head of the expedition had said, they — 
reached the junction of the two rivers a couple 


of hours before sundown. It was determined to 
go into camp then and there, since a good site of- 
fered, and they wished to spend just one more 


night within reach of where the mighty Orinoco — 
rolled its turgid current toward the distant 


ocean. 
As they were about landing Jack called out ex- 
eitedly: 


‘‘Look, fellows, at that monster alligator 
just polling ready to plunge into the river. There © 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 15T 


he goes with a splash. He’s likely got a den under 
the bank, with one entrance far-down below the 
water.’ 

‘*Tonight then is my chance to see how the In- 
dians catch these ’gators for their scaly hides,’’ 
said Ballyhoo, ‘‘because the headman promised 
to set a trap to show me.’’ 


SN Lily, A eT Re ee ee 
eg a a) Yan «| 
* 1 Poe »! 


CHAPTER XVIII 
THE ALLIGATOR TRAP 


“A trap for alligators, did you say?’’ exclaimed. 
Jack, with an immediate show of eagerness; ‘‘that 
sounds interesting. I wonder now if there would 
be anything in it for me.’’ 

**If you mean that you’d like to get a few snaps, 
try and find out from old Mr. Woo what he thinks. 
He’s seen how you work your magic box, and 
could give me a few pointers. And say, mebbe it 
might make a pretty nifty show that would cause 
the kids’ eyes to stick out when they saw the old 
saurian nabbed as neat as you please. Stay here, 
boys, and I’ll try and interview our headman.”? 

With that Ballyhoo slipped away and was soon 
seen making all manner of queer gestures with his 
hands and fingers, as well as motions with his 
head. It was quite a task to hold any lengthy 
conversation with the old Indian who acted as 
‘boss of the outfit;’’ though he could talk fairly 
well on such subjects as concerned the ordinary 
matters connected with starting the day’s work, 
camping, and always the prime subject of “orth 

Ballyhoo had, however, been working indus- 

158 3 | 


Wr, tec 


S 


isly ae the. BE ‘alisp, pe Welioved: te het 

inated a sort of ‘pidgin’? language which, _ 
vhen accompanied by the proper amountof shrugs 
nd smiles and nods oe be understood ay both 


on Se eae the speaker s eye, and could see. 
: ee Ups moved. 


Oh “aes your camera out of its sac ce 
! it did all that while you were ee with — 


appen AK be on the ek Bide of the o 
s full ‘benefit.’ Ae ore 


160 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


using up much of his precious film juniprowtably % 
though accidents would some times happen, as they 
de ‘‘in even the best regulated families.’? — | 
‘The headman took a couple of his understrap-'| 
pers with him, perhaps because he thought they 
would help make the picture more realistic. Three \| 
Indians, with their picturesque attire, would be 
far better than merely a single native. Jack was 
of that opinion himself, and made no effort to cut — 
down the number on the score of unnecessary re | 
resentation. 
First the headman closely examined the shows : 
about the place where the big saurian had made — 
his plunge. It could be easily seen that he had a — 
favorite sunning spot, where he might detect any 
approaching peril, and be ready to take a dip, 
turning up in his slanting den, where it would be 
easy for him to remain until the coast was clear | 
again. | 
Nearly all alligators, as well as their first cou- ( 
sins the crecodiles, have their ‘‘dens’? with one | 
entrance far under the surface of the water, then 
a, slope upwards, and an exit hidden in some clump 
of bushes, back from the stream. Near this latter 
door the shrewd hunter after tiny ’gators looks to © 
rake in his prizes, to be afterwards, perhaps, ae 
as curios in Florida stores. 53 
Having located the reptile’s ‘*house,’’ the heads : 
man signaled that he was ready to begin business; 
so Jack got busy with his crank, while Oscar and — 
Ballyhoo stood ready to render any assistance the — 
Indian might require ; mae see to bee 


meow) sr Seg 


stout hoon sapling growing cieenicnte 
He tested this, 


162 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


tile’s body passing through the noose, the tr 
was pronounced set. When the ’gator, havi 
thrust himself partly through the noose, tried 
push on further, the chances were three out | 
four that he would jerk the bent sapling free fro 
confinement, with the result that the noose wou 
tighten, and the ’gator be raised a foot or two fro 
the ground. Here he would be helpless to effe 
his own release, and must swing and struggle ; 
midair until the setter of the trap came along 1 
secure his prize. : 

After having managed the preliminaries of tl 
strange native way of capturing the wearer of 
‘“corrugated sheet-iron armor,’’ as Ballyhoo ealle 
the thick, rough skin of the alligator, Jack reste 
on his laurels. Later on if luck came their wa 
he would like to get the prisoner dangling ther 
Then the illustration of a saurian creeping up ti 
ward the trap could easily be taken after the re] 
tile had been dispatched. 

It was perhaps along about three in the mon 
ing, as Ballyhoo decided after seeing the positior 
of the various planets in the heavens, that som 
one aroused the boy by a soft shake. Opening h: 
eyes he saw an Indian bending over him, and we 
for the moment startled, since he had been drean 
ing of those savage men whom they had frightene 
away by the use of the professor’s *‘magic.’’ — 

‘‘Oh! it’s only you, Mr. Woo, is it?”’ muttere 
Ballyhoo; ‘‘what’s happened ?’’ 

‘‘He eome trap,’’ the other told him, net withor 
a little streak of natural eaee: in is) voice. 


a says we've caught our ‘gator, 
2. et eetynpo told ce hag come 


s ee Mr, Woo ” with oe £ ng i ; 
cipal role. ; ‘ Ses oe. ei ae hand 
_ Already the headmam, bearing & a tore ee 


them flocked. It ae a queer spectach 
ee Motion Picture Comrades looked upon. e mc 
ye ster peesen at least fourteen feet in ore Ly 


owher the boys arrived on the ene | 
was struggling furiously to release him 


“Whoo! what a terror!’ , acu , 
staring at the squirming ‘reptile. — ‘He: 


- the precaution to carry his gun with | 


: would indicate that Ballyhoo, did not: who. : 


that. frail rope. If the enraged ’ga 


oy break loose and attack them bi w n 


[ hould think you’d get something decent out 
the ee Jack!’’ he observed; while the head- — 


eta Ea ae ta” ily RU dha : 


166 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES — 


‘*T should think such a scene would prove vey’ 
interesting to everybody,’’ ventured the prof 
sor; ‘‘and especially to any boys in an audien 
I know that when I was a mere lad my eyes woul | 
have been as round as saucers if I’d ever had tip" 
chance to see such a thing. And I never cease 
marvel at the wonderful advance in photograpl iy! 
the present generation is experiencing. Old-tin 
still life scenes have lost all their interest for pe: 
ple since the coming of the motion pictures. The 
are one of the wonders of the twentieth century. 

In the morning it was found that the big ’gatc 
was still full of life. Under ordinary condition 
the boys would have surely disposed of the rey 
tile at once, or else let him go free again, for the 
did not believe in giving unnecessary sufferin; 
to any creature; but the case was different now 
for Jack wished to duplicate his work of midnight 
so as to protect himself against possible failure 

After that had been done the alligator was dis 
posed of by a shot from Ballyhoo’s gun; because 
he thought he would like to have that skin for the 
purpose of wearing a pair of slippers at some fu- 
ture date made from the hide. The obliging head- 
man performed the autopsy for him, and for many 
days that same hide was a source of more or less 
annoyanee to every one in camp.. But in the end 
Ballyhoo brought it triumphantly home with him. 

At present writing it is supposed to be in the 
hands of a tanner, who will return it ready for 
use. Ballyhoo apparently believes it to be al- 


ti 


most inexhaustible, to judge from the ea 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 167 


promises of calling-card cases, traveling bags, slip- 
ers, and writing pads which he so generously 
neattered among his girl friends in Melancton. 

| All of which is, of course, away ahead of my 
story, for Ballyhoo was not yet out of the Orinoco 
forests at the time; and if he only knew it had a 
wumber of rather unpleasant experiences still to 
pass through before he could call himself safe. 


CHAPTER XIX 


‘‘NOTHING BUT TROUBLE FOR BALLYHOO!’’ 


Once they left the great Orinoco behind the} 
the boys felt that they were well launched on t. 
return trip. They could now afford to revie 
some of the stirring happenings of the past, ar 
speculate on what might have befallen them ha 
the conditions been different. 

Especially did this refer to their narrow escay 
from being attacked by those rabid white mar 
haters whom the clever artifice of Professor Yare 
ley had frightened off. 

In their first camp after losing sight of the bi 
river the boys talked this all over, and decided tha 
they had much to be thankful for. 

‘‘EXverything seems to have come our way,’ 
Osear told his chums. ‘‘The professor is delighte 
with his collection of plants; Philip Jenks ha: 
picked up twice as many rare specimens of bird; 
as he hoped to find; and as for our crowd, we’v 
certainly secured a mighty fine lot of pictures 
calculated to please the people we’re nore 
for.’’ 

‘Phat’s right, ’? Jack hastened to declare, ¢ en 

+87: 


a ‘connected. mati a ‘Big Round-top,’ not only — Bs 


ne as the Bo egrnence went, but the daily 


dozen other ie that. Bp to now the general | 


= oe 


aes bret our Wild Animal Series of films 
a ee took out there in the heart of Africa,”’ 


3 ee 


iy 
th 
me 
aa ye 
t= Aa ae 
tea gee Fx 
‘ area Ts 
* 4 e 
De aT ae 
Hy 7 a tee 
¢ Se Sn 
ree, 
4 et 2 
te 
Aare, 
easy 
J ri 
ae a 5 
& “ay & bee 
os Yato 
de aa 
Fi 
ase ; 
4 gh 
* eens, 
2 5 
Wire: 
S 
4 Pal. 
Fad 
‘“ 
a Ne a 
> Oe 
r ia Vaal 
ay 
rea 
A * 
ron 
oy 
Bes 


“Si 
. 
Pn 


ae 


170 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES - 


ill-gotten hoard as many as six times, when I 
younger. I always dreamed of finding an of” 
cedar, brass-bound chest buried on a lonely sai le 


to the brim with diamonds and Spanish gold. Li} 
tle did I think that I’d really go hunting for 
bunch of that same Spanish gold, and in a moder} 
submarine diving-boat at that; yes, and find i) 
too.’’ 
With that Ballyhoo hurried over to the rive 
bank, where he had located a tree that hung fa 
out over the water, and perched on which he coulc 
fish to his heart’s content. | 
‘‘Better be careful you don’t slip, Ballyhoo!’ 
called out Jack, a little while later, on noticing fo 
the first time where the other had located. 
‘*Qh, shucks! nothing doing in that line!’’ the 
other boasted. ‘‘I’ve got an old stub ofa broken 
branch back of me to hold to. Did you see that last 
dandy chap I tossed ashore, Jack? Must have 
weighed all of three pounds, and a fighter from 
away back. These fish are gamey enough to he 
called bass, for all the water is so Inke-warm 
mostly. ’’ 
‘‘They run down to the sea from time to time, 
T imagine,’’ explained the professor, ‘‘just as the 
trout do in many streams up in Canada and New- 
foundland. That appears to give them fresh life 
and vigor.’ 
Ballyhoo continued fishing, with more or less 
luck. It was perhaps a quarter of an hour after- 
wards that those in camp heard a tremendous 


a2 ; | 
|} ALONG THE ORINOCO 172 


plash. Jack and Oscar did not have to be told 
jaat in spite of his brave words the unfortunate 
mallyhoo must have made some unexpected 
daove, and losing his balance, had fallen into the 
iver. 
| It was not so very deep where he had been fish- 
ing, and as Ballyhoo could swim of course the 
thances of his being drowned seemed nil; never- 
\heless all of them hastened toward the shore, per- 
jiaps to laugh, or it might be to extend a helping 
hand to the unfortunate. 
Ballyhoo himself was grinning as he turned to 
ook up at the row of faces. He could take a joke, 
sven when it happened to be upon himself, and 
loubtless the absurdity of the situation gi 
0 him. 

Then like a flash his look changed. They saw 
him begin to jump up and down as though in sud- 
den agony. 

“Wow! quit that, can’t you? Oh! what’s hitting 
me that awful way? Jack, Oscar, somebody reach 
me out a hand, can’t you? Ouch! that was a fierce 
drive! It’s nearly killing me every time I feel 
it!?? 

_ **He’s been touched by an electric eel!’’ shouted 
the professor... ‘‘Don’t anybody jump in and try 
to help him, or you’ll only get in trouble your- 
selves. Here, reach out with that pole, Oscar. 
Let him take hold of that, and we’ll pull him 
ashore all right without trouble!’’ 

_ Ballyhoo seemed almost paralyzed, and inca- 
pable of stirring of his own volition, save that he 


a a drowning oe might ae a straw 
: They proceeded to draw him, aN ; 


Whither: the boy would let. oat a "dies 


as though he had received an additional 
the strange creature native to this regi 
of considerable uO Pe of as ce: 


~ any other living hea Ree Sue 
~ So poor Ballyhoo was finally hehned 


where he sank down almost exhausted F, ne : 


*y 


ing most forlorn. They could now work on hi 
_ without fear of ‘‘catching the tome a 
hoo himself expressed it later on, 


nee crazy. It’s a Pe scheme, boys; and 
pat it up to some institution when I get back 
, if Ir ever do.’ a 


en you must have been born under a lucky 
ane for you always do manage to crawl 


‘Soa lie: ve b dieed, and good progress has 
en made eae were Here ye closer to 


hong he did not pretend to be much of a = 
, ‘and we ought to arrive at that small 
wn at : oe mouth of the river. There we must 


174 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


That night was fated to be another which would 
be marked with white stones, on account of 1n- 
expected events coming to pass. No one was really 
to blame on this occasion, because it was only 3) 
chance that the thing happened. ’ 

They had found a very good spot for a camp, 
and congratulated themselves as the time came 
for retiring that there did not seem to be any 
prospect of another storm striking them; also the 
fact that in this part of the country, the headman 
had given them to understand such Indians as” 
they might run across would be found friendly, 
because they were of his own tribe. % 

Consequently all of them were in usually. fine 
spirits during the entire evening. Ballyhoo ha ie 
entirely recovered from his dose of electricity, and 
could now afford to join in the laugh whenever the” 
circumstance was recalled. He even wished Jack 
might have thought to snatch up his camera and | 
get him standing there, unable to take the first” 
step toward the bank unassisted. a 

‘‘T’d just like to see how fiercely I did shake, 7% 
was the way Ballyhoo explained his odd wish. © 
‘You can talk to me about the ague, but I war- — 
rant I had everything beat to a frazzle whenever — 
that silly old eel rubbed up against me, and let 
go a dose of his stored-up stuff.’’ @ 

Later on the camp became silent save for the : 
stentorian breathing of some sleeper who persisted — 
in lying on his back as he slumbered. The boys 
had rigged up the individual mosquito nets each - 
of them carried, for the little Lae soon worse q 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 175 


than usual; and under these they were taking solid 
comfort. 

There was no warning given of what was com- 
ing. Jack heard a sudden yell, and on hastily sit- 
ting up, disentangling himself as best he could 
from his net, caught a strange heavy thumping 
that made him think of the old bull rhinoceros that 
- once charged them when over in the Dark Con- 
tinent. 

He was fumbling for his camera the first thing, 
because that was his most precious possession, 
when to his horror he heard Ballyhoo’s voice. It 
came from beyond the border of the camp, and di- 
rectly in line with those strange pounding sounds, 
Ballyhoo could, when he was excited, let out a 
roar that might be heard a mile or more; and 
plainly he must be in that condition now. 

*‘Help! help! he’s carrying me off! Oscar, 
Jack, hurry up and stop him, won’t you?’”’ was 
what came floating back to the ears of the aston- 
ished campers, all of whom were by this time on 
their feet. 


CHAPTER XX 
SUCCESS ALL AROUND—CONCLUSION 


Oscar was ducking back for his rifle. His first | 
horrified thought when he heard that despairing 


shout from Ballyhoo was that some wild beast like 


a jaguar had invaded the camp and earried the 
other off as his prey. Such things were not un- 
common over there in Africa, even as in India 
man-eating tigers often drag men and children 
away from their own homes. 

“*Tt must be that a tapir charged the oan 
he heard Professor calling; and although this re- __ 
lieved his mind somewhat, still Oscar groped — 
around until he had found not only his gun but 
that of Ballyhoo as well. 

‘‘Get torches, some of you boys!”’ the profes- 
sor was ordering; and understanding what was 
~ meant the headman thrust lighted brands into the 
hands of several of his men, also securing a burn- 
ing splinter ae wee for himself. 

‘‘This way,’’ continued the man of science; “y 
can still hear the beast making off through the 
thick growth. If it is a tapir this will be the first 


time I ever knew one to rush a camp. It is most hae 


176 


| va nas at ide heels, while the “e 
ent waving their hae ina fantastic man 


; saying, as he Racked ae a tree that 
Sania uaa dit: ‘And. if it was sad 


ine turn: your eyes up ny you'll sitio 
ae, vg came in a voice e that thrilled them. _ in 


i Ca it ile through extreme diffieulty.- by 
t below meee for 1 ve got to let Se Vo 


178 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES  _ 


at once, and commencing to feel of his person aiter — 
the manner of one who hardly knew whether his — 
ribs were sound or not. . 
‘‘Huh!’’ grunted Ballyhoo, since none ine them 
seemed capable of saying anything, so preat was — 
their surprise, ‘‘guess I’m all serene, though I ~ 
did think one of my slats had been fractured when — 
I knocked up against a limb while riding on that — 
hog’s back!”’ \ 
‘“What made you do that?’’ asked Jack. ‘‘Were ~ 
you dreaming you belonged to Barley’ s Circus, © 
and a champion bareback rider in the bargain?’’ 
Ballyhoo scratched his head. | 
‘‘Say, it’s real hard for me to figure out just 
chow it did happen,’’ he admitted, with a dubious © 
shake of his head and a grimace that was comical. © 
‘‘Let’s see if I can place things. I remember © 
dreaming that a whole herd of elephants was chas- 4 
ing after me over in Africa. Then I sat up, and Le 
something was booming straight down toward the p 
camp, making a queer grunting noise, too, just like © 
we heard those big tuskers do when we watched the 
pond where they came to cool off.”’ i: 
‘¢Yes, go on, Ballyhoo,’’ urged Oscar, when the | 
other paused as if to catch his breath. 
‘Course I was a little rattled,’’? confessed the | 
other. ‘‘I scrambled up, and then started, only 
half awake, mind you, in the bargain, to climb es : 
branch of the tree that was just over my head. 
And while I was getting up along came that pe 
hog and brushed me right down on his back. The 
best I could do was to hold on like fun, and lot t 


ALONG THE ORINOCO 178 


outa screech. Sure I thought at first it was a real 
elephant.’’ 

‘*A most remarkable happening,” asserted the 
professor gravely. ‘‘It could not occur again, and 
was one chance out of ten thousand. You have had 
_ an extraordinary adventure, my son, believe me.’’ 

**Oh! that’s nothing,’’ Ballyhoo told him, cheer- 
ily; *‘1’m always stumbling into the most aston- 
ishing and ridiculous things anybody could imag- 
ine. That seems to be my luck, to strike the un- 
usual and the surprising. It’s a wonder I’m alive 
to tell the tale.’’ 

‘*But how did you manage to get up in this 
tree?’’ asked Jack. 

**Oh! that was easy enough,’’ came the answer. 
**I knew right away none of you fellows could 
reach me out a helping hand as you often do, and 
that unless I wanted to be kidnapped altogether 
it was up to me to get busy. So the next time I 
felt a branch brush against me I just launched my- 
 self-up, and stuck! But my arms were beginning 

to get tired, and I hated to drop, because I didn’t 
know how far it was to the ground till your lights 
came along.’’ 

“Well, if you’ve got your breath back again, 
Ballyhoo, suppose we return to the camp?’’ sug- 
gested the amused professor; who had turned his 
face aside several times in order to indulge in a 
broad smile, without hurting the boy’s feelings; 
though he should have known that Ballyhoo Jones 
was not the one to take offence at such a small 
thing as that. 


180 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES 


‘TI guess this just about caps the peer of 
queer things I’ve had drop in on me,”’ whined the 
boy, limping a little when making for the camp. 
‘*T certainly hope it’s going to be the last, too, be- 
cause I’m beginning to get tired of furnishing all — 
the amusement for the crowd. I didn’t bargain 
to be the clown when I joined the organization, 
though always ready to do my share of any ele 
thing.’ ~ 

It was concluded that the tapir had not really i in| 
tended to harm the campers when it rushed 
through at such headlong speed. Something must 
have occurred to frighten the unwieldy beast, and 
in plunging forward it had unintentionally in- 
vaded the camp. Then when Ballyhoo dropped on 
its back this circumstance only added to its meee 
ror, and served to increase its speed. ee 

Outside of some unimportant scratches the bay ye 
had, with his customary good luck, come nia 
his singular experience unharmed. " 

‘*But I’m glad, though,’’ he told Jack during . 
the following day, when they were talking across 
the dozen feet of water separating their boats, 
‘‘that the darkness kept you from grabbing up 
your camera, and getting me hanging to that old - 
tapir’s back. I felt about like the daring boy that 
tries to stick on the back of a trick donkey at the 
circus; or the one that rides the greased pig at a 
county fair. I’m willing to try most anything 
once, but I draw the line at being kidnapped by 
big hog with a snout.’’ 4 
.. The succeeding days and melts passed with- a 


ALONG THE ORINOCO | 18 


out anything more of moment happening that 
would be worth a description. And, indeed, the 
boys had already encountered so many thrills that | 
all of them were:glad to have it so. There can - 
be such a thing as too much excitement to please 
even a boy’s adventure-loving heart. 

In due time the expedition reached the town 
near the mouth of the Venezuela river, where they 
- meant to stay until accommodations could be se- 
cured aboard some small trading boat, bound for 
one of the larger cities in touch with the outside 
world. Ae 

But Oscar, Jack and Ballyhoo Jones did not 
_ really return home as soon as they intended, and 
their further adventures are related in the next 
book of this series. 


THE END 
} ay : . B 
We tA. i | 


WBC, 


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4 THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES ABOARD A SUBMARINE 


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|THE TRAIL of THE SENECA | 


By JAMES A. BRADEN 


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By JAMES A. BRADEN 


sale of frontier life, and how three children—two boys and 
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‘She Saalfield Publishing Co. 
_AKRON, OHIO 


AT A i 


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